To Watch You Go Down
by revivingophelia
Summary: She knew he had problems, but it took one defining moment to realize the extent of them. Set in the summer of 2009, with Eve as Jeff Hardy's manager. Eve Torres/CM Punk
1. Chapter 1

Title: To Watch You Go Down

Author: Karen U/revivingophelia

Pairing/Character: Eve Torres/CM Punk, Jeff Hardy, Kelly, Melina (eventually), others

Disclaimer: No one you recognize belongs to me

Rating: R/M

Summary: She knew he had problems, but it took one defining moment to realize the extent of them.

Spoilers: set in the summer of 2009, but with the twist that Eve has been Jeff Hardy's manager for several months at that point

Warnings: language, violence, adult situations, talk of drug use.

**Author's note**: First of all, this story is actually completed. I've been working on it for quite awhile now, and it's 61 parts (and over 125,000 words) long. Depending on the response to it, I'll be posting once or twice a week until I get it all up. Also... As an FYI, this fic isn't exactly kind to Jeff Hardy.

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_[ ... you've become what you despise... a stereotype... you think you're so rock and roll... but you're really just a joke... had the world in the palm of your hands... but you fucking choked... ... I'm not sticking around to watch you go down... -Katy Perry, Circle the Drain... ]_

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Part One

She leaned her head back against the roof of the car, the woman closing her eyes and trying to enjoy the feeling of the sun on her face despite the fact that she wanted nothing more than to climb inside the car and get going once again. Unfortunately for her, that wasn't exactly an option at the moment, since the car was locked and she wasn't the one with the car keys. Heaving out a sigh, Eve Torres lifted her head and opened her eyes, the woman raising her arm so that she could see the watch she wore on her wrist. She'd only been waiting for a few minutes, but it felt like more. The seconds ticked away like minutes, and she was getting more and more frustrated as the time ticked away. She couldn't understand why it was taking so long. If the rest stop was crowded, if there was a line, then sure... But there was only one other car in the parking lot at the moment, and it had pulled in while she was standing there waiting for her traveling partner, who just so happened to also be the man she managed. She vaguely considered the possibility that maybe he was sick or something and that's what was taking so long, but he'd seemed fine earlier, and she had been the one to request that they stop when she saw the sign for the rest stop.

"Come on," she muttered to herself, kicking at a small rock that was near the tire, the diva making a face as she took in the worn toes of the tennis shoes she was wearing. She needed to buy new ones; she just hadn't found the time lately. Shaking her head, she lifted her gaze again, staring at the building that housed the restrooms as she silently urged her traveling partner to finally reappear. She'd been waiting for him for seven or eight minutes now, and it was getting a little ridiculous-

And there he was. He reappeared suddenly, shoving his way through the door with an odd little bounce in his step, but that wasn't too weird. Jeff Hardy seemed to bounce almost anywhere he went. It was something that she'd had to force herself to get used to during the eight or nine months since she'd started managing him.

"Finally," she said aloud as he approached the woman unable to stop the word from slipping out. For his part, Jeff barely even glanced at her as he made his way back to the car, and Eve rolled her eyes as she stepped away from the vehicle, waiting for him to pull the keys from his pocket and push the button to unlock the doors. The lack of acknowledgement made it obvious that he was in one of his moods... He seemed to be in them a lot lately, and it was starting to drive her crazy. Yeah, okay, she understood that after all the stuff his brother had done to him this year, he had the right to be a bit moody, but really... Why did he have to take it out on her? She was the one that had stuck by him, not the one that had turned against him and cost him the damned championship. And now... He had a chance at the title again. He would, after all, be facing Edge in a ladder match at Extreme Rules in a couple of weeks for the World Heavyweight Championship. Of course, the added pressure of the upcoming championship match could be part of the reason why he was being so moody lately... Or he could just be acting like a jerk.

Heaving out a sigh, Eve got into the passenger seat of the car as Jeff got behind the wheel, the diva kicking off her slip-on tennis shoes, then buckling her seatbelt and leaning her head back against her seat. She winced a little as the music came blasting out of the speakers... Jeff's choice in music, not hers, and listening to it too often and at such a loud volume had a tendency to give her a headache. Unfortunately, the last time she'd asked him to turn it down, he'd been in one of his moods and had turned it up instead. As the engine revved but they didn't seem to be moving, Eve glanced over, noting that they were indeed in reverse, which meant...

"Don't forget the parking brake," she told him, having to raise her voice a bit in order to be heard over the sound of the radio, and Jeff sent a glare her way before he released the parking brake, the car jerking back violently when he did so because his foot was too heavy on the gas. Eve swore under her breath in reaction, the diva careful not to say or do anything else because Jeff already seemed annoyed enough. At what, she wasn't sure. She just knew that he was in one of his moods again, and it seemed to be getting worse. It always seemed to be getting worse lately.

The brunette turned her head to stare out the window as he left the parking lot of the rest area, a frown on her face as she gazed at the side of the road, which was nothing but a bunch of grass and the occasional trees. Shaking her head slightly, she reached into her purse to take out her phone, intending to play a game on it, then frowning when she realized that it was showing a low battery. With a shake of her head, Eve pulled out her car charger, then plugged the phone in to charge, once more leaning back into her seat... Her frown deepening when she realized that they seemed to be going much faster than they should be. Quickly, she leaned over slightly to look at the speedometer, finding that it was already at eighty and still seemed to be climbing. On top of that, Jeff was getting dangerously close to crossing the center line. Granted, no one else seemed to be coming, but...

"Jeff, you're weaving all over the road," she told him, her hand gripping the console between then as she noted that he was now going nearly ninety. She also noted that, while his right foot was firmly on the gas pedal, his left leg seemed to be moving restlessly, as did his left hand, which wasn't even on the wheel.

Eve knew that a lot of the fans thought that Jeff was the type of person to be full of energy and in constant motion, but thereality was, that actually wasn't true. Despite being crazy and reckless at times - whether it be in the ring or on his dirt bike - he was also the type of person that could sit in one place for hours. He wasn't the type of guy to be restless or have nervous tics. Well, not usually. But Eve knew all too well the sort of things Jeff did that made him act like this. And, unfortunately, it would kind of explain why he had taken so damned long to come back to the car earlier. He hadn't been going to the bathroom; he'd been doing something else.

"Damn it, Jeff," the brunette spat out as they car wove into the other lane once more, the diva quickly reaching out and tugging on the wheel, startling Jeff as she did so, but managing to get them back into their lane.

"What the hell?!" he yelled, yanking the wheel to the side even further and hitting the brakes as he did so, sending up a spray of gravel from the shoulder of the road as the car skidded to a stop, partly on the shoulder, and partly still on the driving lane of the road. Furious, he turned his head to glare at her, and Eve shook her head as she looked at him. The nervous twitches and erratic driving had clued her in, but the dilated eyes told her that he was, without a doubt, on something. She just wasn't sure what.

"What did you take?" she demanded to know, and he sneered at her.

"Nothing."

"Bullshit," the diva tossed back at him, unable to hide her fury. The fact that he'd gotten high on something, then gotten behind the wheel - with her in the car - made her angry beyond belief. Part of her had stopped giving a damn what he did on his own time - part of her had given up on him, she supposed - but the fact that he'd made the decision to get high in a public bathroom, then go out and put other people at risk... That was more than she could take. "You're shaking, your eyes are dilated, you're obviously high as a kite. What the fuck were you thinking getting behind the wheel like this? You can't drive in this condition."

"I'm fine."

She glared at him. "Like hell you are. You were weaving all over the road. You put us in danger... and anybody else that might be on the road. What were you thinking? Oh, wait. That's right. You weren't thinking at all," she snapped at him. "Get out of the car."

"Excuse me?"

"We're switching seats. If you're going to get fucking high, then I'm going to be the one driving," Eve declared, the woman refusing to back down despite the absolute fury that she saw in his eyes. Sometimes it was easy to forget that, while a sober Jeff was pretty calm and laid-back, a Jeff that was drunk or high was a different story entirely. Even so... There was no way that she was going to let him get away with this. He was on a public road, for fuck's sake. He could kill some family on vacation... Not to mention them as well.

"You're such a pain in the ass," Jeff muttered, his words a bit slurred. "I don't know why I put up with you-"

"Maybe you put up with me because I'm the only one that puts up with your shit," she shot back at him, taking advantage of the fact that he was sitting there with his foot on the brake to reach out and put the car into park. "Now... We're going to switch places. I'm driving because I'm actually not high as a kite and therefore, I'm capable of being behind the wheel without practically running the damn car off the road."

With that said, the diva unbuckled her seatbelt, her hands shaking a bit as she did so - whether it was just from anger or from a combination of anger and something else she wasn't sure - the woman jerking as Jeff suddenly reached across her and opened her door. He shoved it open with more violence than was necessary, though she wasn't really surprised by that. When he was high, he tended to get pissed when he didn't get his way, and at the moment, she was definitely going against what he wanted. Still, it seemed that he was actually going to do as she wanted at the moment, which came as a bit of a relief. He could be so argumentative at times that she'd thought it would be more difficult than this.

"At least you're being reasonable," she muttered as she started to reach for the shoes she'd slipped off a few minutes before, then she let out a scream as a sudden sharp shove sent her sliding partially out of the car, another shove, this one harder than the first, sending her sprawling in the dirt as she fell entirely out of the car. Something hit her in the head almost immediately, then she heard the car door slam, Eve quickly getting to her feet. "Jeff, what the hell?!"

"I'm sick of your self-righteous bitch attitude. I'm driving. You can fucking walk," he spat out before peeling away, Eve too stunned at his actions to even try to stop him, the diva standing there barefoot, her purse - the object that had hit her in the head - laying at her feet. She had no shoes - they were still in the car - and, with a sinking feeling, she realized that wasn't the only thing still in the car. Her bags were there, of course, but since she'd put it on the charger earlier, her phone was still in the vehicle as well, which meant she couldn't call anyone to come and get her.

"Oh, God," she managed, blinking back the tears that threatened as she realized exactly the situation she was in. No shoes, no phone, and in the middle of nowhere. She had some cash, since she had her purse, but that wouldn't do her any good since there weren't going to be any cabs suddenly appearing, and she wasn't about to try and hitchhike. Of course, she didn't really have any other options... The road was deserted, no one in sight, and it seemed like the only choice she really had was to turn around and start walking back to the rest stop - which had to be at least a few miles back by now - and hope they had a payphone or something so she could call someone. Either that, or she could stand there and hope that Jeff came to his senses and came back for her... But that didn't seem all that likely.

Eve turned in the direction of the rest stop and began to walk.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer, etc., in part 1.

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Part Two

He jerked a hand through his hair, frowning slightly as he glanced at the mile marker he'd just passed. He was making good time on the trek to the city for the next live event, but it still felt like it was taking too long. He was getting a little restless. Sighing, the man reached out and turned up the volume of the music in the car, singing along under his breath to a playlist of his favorite songs. Given how hard it could be to find good radio stations when traveling from town to town - the stations changed so damn frequently - he'd taken to renting cars that had places to plug in his iPod so that he could listen to music he actually liked as much as possible when he was on the road.

Still singing along with the music, he glanced at the clock in the car and noted the time, vaguely thinking that he'd have to stop to grab something to eat after awhile. He'd have to gas up the car, too, so he'd probably just go to one of those places that had a fast food restaurant connected to the gas station or something. One-stop shopping and all of that. He nodded to himself as he thought about it, the man barely glancing at the exit as he passed by a rest stop, figuring that he'd be fine until the next town he'd hit about twenty miles from now... The man barely managing to keep from slamming on his brakes in the middle of the road as he caught sight of a figure stumbling slightly as the person walked through the grass on the side of the road.

Without taking any time to consider what he was doing, CM Punk slowed his rental car down and pulled off onto the shoulder of the road, quickly putting the car in park and turning the engine off before checking to make sure no one was coming and getting out of the vehicle. He quickly made his way around the trunk of the car and stepped out onto the grass, his gaze still on the person that he'd just seen. It was a woman, that much was obvious from the long hair and the figure he could see even from the distance of a couple hundred feet away. She wore shorts and a peasant blouse and carried a purse, but from what he could tell as she continued to walk, she wasn't wearing any shoes. Or if she was, they couldn't be anything more than flip-flops or some type of flimsy sandals.

She also looked incredibly familiar.

"What the hell?" the man muttered, Punk looking up and down the road as if trying to figure out where, exactly, the woman had come from. He couldn't see a vehicle, which confused him, and made him wonder exactly how long she'd been walking around. He also couldn't help but wonder what had happened... Had she been in a wreck and wandered off? Was she having car trouble? But if she had car trouble, why didn't she just call for a tow truck or something? It made no sense, and he wasn't getting any answers by just standing there and staring at her as she kept walking, the woman getting further and further away from him, acting as if she hadn't seen him at all. Frowning, he began to make his way in the direction she was headed, his movement somewhere between a walk and a run.

"Eve? Eve, is that you? Hey, wait up!" he yelled out, noting the way the woman jerked slightly at the sound of his voice, making it clear that she heard him, though she didn't turn around, nor did she change the speed at which she was walking. Of course, if she was barefoot or wearing flip flops, she probably couldn't move too terribly fast. Running in flip flops could make her trip, and running in bare feet could lead to stepping on something she hadn't seen in time. Because she stayed at the same speed, he caught up with her fairly easily, the man's frown deepening as he got a better look at her appearance. She'd pulled her hair back into a messy ponytail, and the sweat he could see on her neck seemed to indicate that she'd been outside awhile. On top of that, there was a nasty looking scrape on her right thigh, just beneath the hem of her shorts. Mostly it was just a graze or something, but there were a few places where he could see blood had started to make a trail from the cut down her leg. He could also finally see for sure that she was indeed barefoot. Her feet were dirty and, as she continued to walk, he was pretty sure he could see some cuts on the bottom of them. Or, at least, he could see something that looked like blood on the bottom of her feet as she continued to walk... To limp, really. It was clear that she was favoring her right leg, though he wasn't sure if it was because of the nasty scrape on her thigh, or because of the cuts on her feet. Whatever the case, she was clearly hurting.

"What the hell is going on?" CM Punk muttered to himself before reaching out and grasping the woman by the shoulders, turning her around to face him. She stumbled slightly at the motion, blinking rapidly as she looked at him. Her eyes were red, which he took as a sign that she had, at some point, been crying. Considering the fact that she was wandering around barefoot and injured in the middle of nowhere, he couldn't really say he blamed her for it. "Eve, what happened?"

She blinked at him, confusion on her face. She seemed able to focus on him pretty easily, which he took as a good sign. Eve didn't seem to have a concussion. If she did, he doubted her gaze would be quite so clear. Of course, he still didn't have any idea what in the hell had happened to her. His best theory had been that she'd had an accident, hit her head, and wandered off. But that didn't seem to be the case.

"Come on, Eve, talk to me," he said quietly, and the woman blinked again, looking like she'd just realized that she hadn't responded to him yet.

"What are you doing here? How did you get here?" she asked, probably the first thing that came to her mind, and he shrugged, pointing back toward the car that he'd left on the shoulder of the road. Thankfully, he'd been smart enough to take the keys with him - and lock the door - before he'd run off after her.

"I passed you in my car. I saw you walking, so I stopped. Eve... What the hell are you doing out here?" He looked around. "Where's your car?" he wanted to know, then gestured to her, specifically the scrapes on her leg. "What happened to you?"

She shook her head, pressing her lips together, and he was pretty sure that he saw tears in her eyes. Whatever was going on, she didn't want to talk about it. After a moment, she spoke. "It doesn't matter."

"You're barefoot, you're hurt, and I don't see your car. Trust me, Eve, it does matter."

"I'm fine."

"Like hell you are," he tossed back, the wrestler torn between frustration for the lack of answers and sympathy because it was obvious that something was going on here. "Eve, where's your car?"

She closed her eyes and laughed, though the sound held no humor. "I have no idea. Long gone, I imagine."

"Did someone take your car?" he asked, though he wasn't sure how that would have happened. If the car had been taken when she'd stopped somewhere... Wouldn't she have stayed there to call the cops or something instead of wandering around the highway? Wouldn't she have been at a gas station or a rest stop or a restaurant if something like that had happened? But she wasn't. Instead, she was in the middle of freaking nowhere.

She jerked her hands through her hair, messing up her ponytail even more than it had been already, the diva shaking her head and turning in a circle, a look on her face that he didn't quite understand. "Oh, he took the car alright," she said after a moment, something a little lost in her tone, like she was confused about how she'd ended up in this position.

CM Punk frowned, the man shaking his head. "He? Who is he?" he questioned, but as soon as he said it, the answer hit him like a kick to the gut. Punk knew, of course, who it was that Eve managed. Everyone in the entire company knew who she managed. She'd managed the man for the better part of a year, so it was a little hard not to notice it. But knowing who the 'he' in her statement had to be didn't really change things. All it did was make things worse, because apparently it was someone that she was supposed to be able to trust that had left her in this condition. Frowning, his gaze moved back to the diva, the man quickly noticing that she'd started walking again, not toward his car, but in the direction she'd been heading when he'd first come upon her. He was able to reach her again in a few strides, the wrestler stepping in front of her and turning to face her, putting his hands on her shoulders to keep her where she was. "Eve, stop walking," he told her, shaking her a bit as he said it, his tone leaving no room for argument, and when her eyes filled with tears, his own eyes widened in surprise and he swore. "Eve..."

"He left me. He shoved me out of the car, tossed my purse at me, and he left me." She looked away, then brought her gaze back to his, tears still pooling in her eyes. "My phone was on the charger. My shoes are probably still on the floorboards. I'd taken them off."

"Fucking bastard," Punk managed, forcing himself not to clench his hands into fists because he knew that there wasn't anything he could hit around here. Instead, he bent low, taking a look at Eve's thigh, wincing when he saw the bits of dirt and gravel clinging to the scrapes. Blood had trailed down her leg a bit, but it was dry now, the injury having stopped bleeding. In some places, the blood had mixed with the dirt on her legs, making the blood look darker and probably worse than it was. Even so, it was bad enough, and it would probably hurt like hell to clean. Without thinking about what he was doing, he reached out, fingers running over the skin, Eve flinching back slightly at the touch. Looking up, he saw her staring down at him with wide eyes, her gaze more focused than it had been since he'd come up to her. A tear was on its way down her cheek. Straightening up, he sighed, then pointed at his car still parked on the shoulder of the road. "Come on. Let's get you in the car, see what we can do for you," he told her, and Eve nodded slightly, turning toward the vehicle, wincing in pain when she went to take a step. The fact that she hadn't seemed to really acknowledge the pain when he'd come up to her and that she did now made him wonder just how out of it she'd really been. The heat, the pain, the shock of actually being left on the side of the road - the fear of what might end up happening...

"My feet hurt," she said quietly, apologetically, and Punk nodded slightly, the man jerking his hand through his hair before reaching out and lifting the diva in his arms, carrying her as he headed back toward the car.

"I know they do," he replied in an equally soft voice, all the while thinking about just what he could do to make a lot more than just Jeff Hardy's feet hurt.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer, etc., in part 1.

Thanks to everyone that's reviewed so far... and happy new year! :)

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Part Three

When he got to the car, he carefully set her down on the trunk for a moment so he could unlock the vehicle and open the back door, the man careful to make sure that he put her close enough to the edge so that the skin left uncovered by her shorts didn't touch the hot surface of the car. Once the door was open, Punk lifted Eve in his arms again, then lowered her down onto the edge of the bench seat in the back of the car, urging her further into the vehicle.

"You can go ahead and lay down. Be careful of your leg," he told her, gently easing her down so that she was laying on her side. Eve went without complaint, situating herself as best she could, drawing her legs up a bit so that her feet were inside the car, and Punk winced as he saw the blood and dirt that was there. Some of the cuts seemed to still be bleeding a little, though it wasn't too bad. However, this was still a rental car, and he'd have to pay if he fucked up the seats, so he dug around in his duffel bag for a t-shirt, pulling out a couple of other things as well, leaving them on the floor boards as he lifted her feet and put the plain t-shirt beneath them, figuring that would keep the blood and dirt off the seats... The man frowning as he looked down at her injured feet again. Her feet had to hurt like a bitch, but other than her quiet words just before he'd picked her up, the diva hadn't complained at all... And really, she hadn't even been complaining then. She'd just been making a comment, a statement of fact, an obvious truth.

Sighing softly, Punk stepped back, the man shaking his head as he closed the door to the car. He knew he needed to do something about her leg and her feet - clean them up at least, though cleaning and bandaging would be best - but he didn't exactly have a first aid kit in the car with him at the moment. He figured his best bet would be to go down the road a little ways and try to find a drug store or something - a Wal-Mart would work - that carried what he'd need to get her cleaned up, but he wasn't sure how far he'd have to go for that. He had some bottled water in the car with him, so he could try to wash off the cuts, but that would just make a mess because he'd basically have to just pour it over the injuries, and it probably wouldn't do much good. Those cuts needed to be thoroughly washed, and they needed to be cleaned with antiseptic and bandaged.

Damn Jeff Hardy. Damn him to all sorts of hell for what he'd done. Because, despite the fact that Eve hadn't technically named names about who it was that had left her out there in the middle of nowhere injured and without her shoes or cell phone, there was no doubt in his mind that it was the bastard that she managed that had done it. She'd said 'he', and there wasn't any other guy CM Punk could think of that Eve would be traveling with.

And to think, the crowds practically thought Jeff freaking Hardy was a god. They probably wouldn't think so highly of the bastard if they knew how he treated his manager. Or maybe the sheep would just find an excuse for it, try and blame Eve for it or something.

There was no way that the blame for this could be put on Eve.

Taking a deep breath, Punk stood at the back of his car, fighting the urge to scream or punch something, knowing that Eve would hear it if he yelled and feel it if he punched the back of the car. On top of that, hitting the car would hurt his hand, and if he managed to somehow leave a dent, then he'd be paying for the damages since it was a rental. Once he was sure he had control of himself, the man made his way around the back of the car and got in the front seat, quickly turning the key in the ignition and making sure the air was turned on pretty good. Eve had probably gotten pretty damn hot out there; she needed to cool off. He didn't want to turn the air on too high, though. He didn't want to make her cold.

"You okay back there?" he said after a moment, and he was pretty sure he heard her sniffle before she spoke.

"I'm fine."

"No, you're really not," he replied, disputing her claim just as he had less than ten minutes before. "I'm going to try and find a place that has first aid stuff. Take care of those cuts." He put the car in gear, checked to make sure that no one was coming before he eased the vehicle back onto the road. Truth was, the road was pretty damned deserted. He didn't remember seeing a car from the time he'd pulled off the road to go to Eve. After a moment, the man spoke again. "You and Jeff get into a fight?" he asked, careful to keep his voice as neutral as possible, not wanting his anger to bleed through, not wanting Eve to know just how pissed off he was about the situation. He could hear Eve sigh, heard rustling in the back that meant she was shifting around a bit. A hiss through her teeth probably meaning she'd hit her feet or her thigh on something. After several seconds, she finally spoke, her voice carefully neutral, like she was trying to hold back any emotion she felt about the situation.

"We stopped at the rest stop. It was a couple of miles back."

"I saw it."

"He took a long time. When he came back to the car, something seemed off. Once we got on the road... I realized he wasn't driving very well. Erratic. He was weaving around and driving too fast. He went in the other lane, and I grabbed the wheel, pulled on it until we were back in our lane. He pulled off onto the shoulder. By that time, I already knew what was wrong. The speeding, the weaving around the road, the nervous tapping, moving in his seat like he couldn't sit still. He was high."

"Fucking bastard," Punk muttered, unable to stop himself, though he was able to keep his voice low. Hopefully low enough that Eve didn't hear the words. If she did, she didn't seem to care, the diva instead continuing to speak.

"I told him we were switching seats. That I was driving. That I wouldn't let him drive high. He reached across me and opened the door. I thought he was being reasonable. Instead, he shoved me out of the car, threw my purse out, and drove off. I thought there had been an old payphone at the rest stop, and I had change in my purse, so I started to walk back. I don't know how far Jeff and I had gone from the rest stop, and I don't know how far I walked. Then you came. And now. Well, and now," she said, her voice growing quiet again, the diva falling silent and, in truth, there really wasn't much else to say. Not for her, anyway. CM Punk, on the other hand, was desperately fighting the urge to let loose with a particularly nasty string of swear words to describe what he thought of Jeff Hardy at the moment. The worst thing was, he couldn't say he was all that surprised to find out that Hardy had gotten behind the wheel when he was high as a kite. He knew the other man'd had problems with drugs in the past. Hell, everybody knew it. Rumor had it the company had wanted him to get help back in 2002 and he'd quit because of it, and since he'd returned a few years ago, the guy had already gotten two strikes against him. It was sad and pathetic. And so was the fact that people kept making excuses for him.

After several seconds of silence in which Punk tried to force himself to calm down, the man spoke, trying hard to keep his voice even. "I'm sorry, Eve."

"It's not your fault," she said, her voice as soft as his had been, probably softer. She no longer sounded upset. Instead, she just sounded tired. After the shit that had happened today, she probably was.

"I've got a jacket back there. Too damn hot outside for me to need it, but you could use it as a pillow or something. Get some rest." He shifted slightly, reaching back into the floor boards to grope around for the material, finding the hoodie he pulled out of his duffel bag earlier after a few seconds, then holding it out to her. After a moment, he felt her reach out to take it, her fingers brushing over his as she did so. He was pretty sure that she was shaking. "Eve..."

"Thank you," she said when he trailed off, and he could hear her shifting around a little again, probably bunching the jacket up so that it would make as comfortable of a pillow as she could force it to be.

"There's a little cooler back there, too. Near your feet. It's got water and Pepsi in it. Feel free to take whatever you want. I don't know how long you were out there, but if it was awhile, then water would probably do you some good," he said, not sure if she'd been stuck out in the heat long enough to start getting dehydrated or not.

"I'll keep that in mind," Eve said softly, the diva shifting around a bit more, though he didn't hear the cooler open. She probably didn't feel like going through the effort to do so. When they stopped again, he'd have to make sure that he got a drink out for her. "Punk?"

"Yeah?" he replied.

"Thank you. For stopping for me," the diva told him in a voice that wasn't much over a whisper, and he shifted slightly, a little uncomfortable. For some reason, people thanking him always made him feel a bit uncomfortable; he didn't know why.

"Anybody would have done it," he said after a moment, and she gave a soft laugh that held no humor.

"No, they wouldn't have."


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer, etc., in part 1.

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Part Four

She woke up abruptly, nearly falling off the seat she was on, Eve hissing through her teeth at the stinging pain she felt in her leg and her feet. Unfortunately, the pain was enough to bring back the memories of everything that had happened to her so far that day, and the diva took a deep breath as she forced herself to sit up, closing her eyes for a moment and trying to gather herself enough to keep from crying. When she was sure that she had control of herself, Eve opened her eyes again, the brunette frowning as she looked around. The car was empty at the moment, CM Punk nowhere to be found, but the car was parked beneath the shade of a tree, the windows all open about four inches to let air in. It was warm in the car, but not too bad yet, the breeze that was currently shaking the branches of the tree overhead also sending fresh air through the car. There was a note on the console between the driver's seat and the passenger seat in the front, the paper held down by a CD case, and Eve frowned slightly as she reached forward to get it. The note was short and simple, just telling her that he would be back in a minute and that he'd stopped to get something. The fact that they were stopped in front of a little store that looked like it might sell a bit of everything made Eve wonder a little just what he'd needed to stop for, but a glance down at her bloody thigh and feet told her that it was probably something for her. She did, after all, vaguely remember him saying something about stopping at the first place he found for some first aid stuff. Apparently, this was the first place they'd come across.

Eve jerked at the sound of the door unlocking, then turned her head to find that Punk was approaching, keys in hand. Obviously, he'd just used the button to unlock the car. He came around to the back and opened the door, the man putting two bags of supplies on the floorboard as he knelt down outside the car. His hand come out to carefully brush over her leg, the wrestler making a face as he looked at it.

"I was hoping I'd be back before you woke up," he commented as he looked over her injuries, and Eve shrugged her shoulders.

"I just woke up, actually. I never meant to fall asleep in the first place. How long was I out?"

"Maybe forty-five minutes. Not long," he told her, the wrestler pulling out a bottle of water and what looked to be a washcloth out of one of the bags, shrugging at her look. "Dollar stores have a little bit of everything. Like Wal-Mart. Only sometimes they're even cheaper than Wal-Mart is." He opened the water, used it to wet the cloth. "This is probably going to hurt, but we've got to get these cuts clean. We've let them go long enough already, and you don't want them to get infected."

Eve made a move to reach for the washcloth. "I can do it."

"Probably. But I can see what I'm doing better from here than you can from the way you're sitting. Especially with your feet," the man told her, taking a deep breath before he brought the washcloth up to her thigh. He'd bought the softest washcloth he could find, but given that it was a dollar store, there hadn't exactly been anything of high quality, which meant the material was rougher than he'd have liked it to be, and also meant he was being as careful as possible. He wanted to wash the blood away, not irritate the scrapes enough to cause her to start bleeding again. He could feel Eve tense at the first contact, the diva hissing through her teeth as the cloth touched the abraded skin. "Sorry."

"It's not your fault," the brunette replied, sighing before she let herself lay back down on the seat, staring up at the roof of the car, her lower body turned slightly so that he could more easily get to the scrapes on her thigh. Luckily, it seemed that any bits of gravel were clinging more to the blood and dirt than actually being inside the scrapes, which meant he didn't have to pick anything out of the injuries; he just had to clean them off. Even so, it took a few minutes to get the blood and dirt wiped away, and from what he could tell, the irritation of the cloth against the scrapes had brought blood to the surface again. Once he had her leg clean, he went to her feet, reaching down for one ankle... Eve noting the change in his attention and shifting herself further back on the backseat, getting as much of herself on the seat as possible, then bringing one leg up so that he could get a better look at her foot. As he took inventory of the blood and cuts he saw there, he winced slightly, taking note of a particularly bad-looking cut near her heel, probably from a sharp rock that she hadn't seen or something. Either that, or broken glass that could have been on the side of the road.

"Not very pretty, is it?" Eve asked quietly, and he looked up to see that she'd shifted herself enough that she could watch him as he worked. "The grass was pretty tall in some places. Hard to see where I was putting my feet."

"This shouldn't have happened," Punk told her, knowing he was letting the anger seep into his voice, but unable to help it. Eve heaved out a sigh.

"Yeah, but it did," the brunette said simply, meeting his eyes for a few seconds before averting her gaze, the diva going back to staring at the ceiling of the car. CM Punk watched her for a few seconds, then sighed, returning his attention to her feet. Earlier, Eve had given him the basics of what had happened, and he rather had the feeling that she'd said all she planned to say on the matter... That anything else, any fears or anger or anything she felt, was going to be kept bottled up inside. Maybe she would talk to someone else, a good friend or something, but he wasn't too sure that any of her friends in the company weren't also friends of Jeff Hardy and, well... That would probably make it more difficult to talk to them since Hardy was the one that had done this to her.

Shaking his head slightly, the frown on his face deepening, Punk continued carefully washing the dirt and blood off of her feet, relieved to see that, aside from the bad cut near the heel on her right foot and a cut near the little toe on her left foot, the rest of the injuries seemed more to be scrapes and abrasions. Nothing too serious and, thankfully, nothing that seemed to need stitches. Of course, that didn't change the fact that it would probably hurt like hell for her to walk for awhile.

Taking a deep breath, he sat back as he looked at his handiwork, the cuts now as clean as he could get them with water, the roughness of the washcloth causing some blood to rise to the surface on those scrapes as well... Something he hated, but he couldn't really help it. Just like he couldn't help the fact that what he needed to do next would probably hurt like a bitch. Making a face, he dropped the washcloth in the bag he'd been using for trash earlier - an empty Pepsi can was in there, as was the wrapper from a breakfast sandwich he'd bought at a fast food place that morning. Pushing that bag away, he reached into the bag of purchases from the dollar store, heaving out a sigh as he pulled out what he needed.

"Okay, this is probably going to hurt. It's an antiseptic spray. It's all they had-"

She closed her eyes. "It's okay. I'll be fine," she told him, her voice calm, though he could see her body tense, the woman shifting so he could get to the scrapes on her leg more easily. Her hands curled into fists as he applied to antiseptic, though she didn't make a sound. Once he was satisfied he'd gotten the scrape on her leg covered, he moved to her feet, occasionally glancing at her face as he worked, not liking that he knew his current actions were causing her pain - antiseptic could sting like crazy and she had to have been hurting anyway - but knowing that it needed to be done. The last thing she needed was an infection on top of all of this. Once he was done with the spray, he tossed it aside, then carefully bandaged the worst of the cuts on her feet. The dollar store hadn't had anything that would do a very good job with covering the scrape on her leg - nothing large enough - so it had to be left uncovered, at least for now. The good news was that the injuries were cleaned now.

Heaving out a sigh, Punk got to his feet, eyeing the woman in the car. "I think that's about all we can do for now," he said after a moment, jerking a hand through his hair before speaking again. "We're still a few hours from where the next show is, so if you want to go back to sleep, you've got plenty of time for a nap. I figure you deserve it-"

"I sleep too much now, I won't sleep tonight," Eve said with a sigh, the woman sitting up on the edge of the bench seat of the car. Her ponytail was even messier than before, long strands of hair no longer held in place, giving her a rather rumpled look that he found oddly endearing. As she went to mess with her hair, she realized the state of it, pulling out the hair tie and running her hands through it, taming it a little, but not that much. Looking up, she saw him watching her, the diva quickly averting her gaze, and he was pretty sure that he saw a blush stain her cheeks. "I look like a mess."

Despite the fact that he was the type of guy that had problems censoring his own words, he held back a comment about her being a very pretty mess, figuring that would just embarrass her more. Instead, he shrugged. "You've had a rough day. You don't want to sleep in the backseat, you can come up and sit in the front," he told her, stepping back so that she could exit the car if she wanted to and, after a long pause, she did just that, the diva sliding to the very edge of the seat and starting to force herself to her feet, wincing as she did so. Punk stepped forward again immediately, lifting her in his arms. When she gave him a surprised look, he shrugged as best he could considering the fact that he was currently carrying her. "Can't have you undoing everything I just did," he told her, and Eve nodded slightly, the diva leaning over to reach for the door to the passenger side of the front seat, managing to get it open, and Punk stepped forward to carefully put her inside. As he started to step back and rise up, Eve suddenly reached out, her hand going to the back of his head and stopping his progress.

"You were about to hit your head," she said softly, a quick glance back telling Punk that she was indeed right... Meeting her gaze again making him aware that his face was mere inches from hers and that despite the fact that she'd been asleep earlier and pretty much had no makeup on, it was still one of the prettiest faces he'd ever seen.

And he really did not need to be having these thoughts right now.

Shaking his head slightly, he ducked back out of the car, making sure that all of Eve was inside the car before shutting the door, then shutting up the back of the car as well, the man taking a deep breath as he made his way back around to the driver's side of the car, trying to forget just how good Eve had looked to him just a moment before.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer, etc., in part 1.

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Part Five

He found that he wanted - rather badly, actually - to throw something. Of course, at the moment, he most wanted to throw things at Jeff Hardy's head, but that wasn't exactly in the realm of possibilities now since he had no idea where the older man was. They hadn't passed any burning wreckage on the way to the next city, so he figured that, wherever Hardy was, he'd probably made it to town. As long as he hadn't been so drugged out that he'd ended up going in the wrong direction or something... Which really wasn't outside of the realm of possibilities, actually. If Eve was to be believed - and Punk found himself thinking she was far more believable than Jeff Hardy would ever be - then the guy had been high as a kite when he'd driven off without her, and Punk figured that being under the influence of something probably didn't do much for a person's ability to read a map. And while he might, under other circumstances, find it amusing to think of Hardy accidentally heading off to the wrong town, he found nothing about what had happened today even remotely funny. He kind of figured that Eve didn't, either.

Shaking his head, Punk made his way across his hotel room and flopped back on the bed, a frown on his face as he thought about the events of the day. Eve had been quiet for the rest of the trip after he'd gotten her moved to the front seat, almost eerily so, and he couldn't help but wonder what had been going on in her mind. After all, while he kind of felt like he'd had a bitch of a day, Eve was the one that had really gone through it all. She'd been the one left by the side of the road. She'd been the one hurt... And she'd had to know the reality of what could have happened to her out there. Eve was smart. She had to know what could have happened, what kind of situation Hardy had left her in. She'd been alone, with nothing more than her purse, no cell phone, not even her shoes, and if the wrong person had been the one to stop...

The thought sent a shudder up the man's spine, and he rubbed a hand over his face, forcing himself to remember that the worst hadn't happened. He'd been the first one to see her there, he'd been the first one to stop, and he knew that all he'd done was help her. He hadn't hurt her, would have never even dreamed of hurting her. He'd cleaned up her injuries and bandaged the worst of them, and he'd done his best to make sure that she was okay. Or as okay as anyone could be when they'd been put through what Eve had gone through. After all, she managed Hardy. Until today, she'd probably trusted the guy. Or at least thought he wouldn't pull the type of shit that he'd pulled.

Letting out a breath, Punk jerked his hands through his hair, fingers tangling in the dark strands as he stared at the ceiling and tried to push away the images of Eve that refused to leave his head. It wasn't his problem, right? He'd found her, taken care of her injuries... They'd eaten on the road and, in the end, he'd taken her to her hotel so she could check in. She'd had her purse with her, so she had her ID and credit cards and all of that, and he'd bought a pair of flip-flops for her at the dollar store when he'd bought stuff to clean up her injuries, so she'd had shoes. That was the end of it, right? He'd made sure she was okay, helped her out, and now it was over. The end of it. He'd done the right thing, and now he was out of it. What she did now was up to her.

And yeah, somehow he thought he was going to have a bit of a problem with that.

"Not my problem," he muttered, though he didn't really believe that. Not deep down. Not when he'd seen first-hand just exactly what a drugged-out Jeff Hardy's actions could do to a person. The thing was, he didn't hate Jeff Hardy. Or, he hadn't before today. Before now. He'd known the guy had problems. Hardy had suspensions in his past. Everyone knew that. Rumor had it that he'd left the company the first time because he refused to go to rehab like the company wanted him to. Obviously, he still had the same problems. Maybe worse ones, now, since back then he'd never heard a story about Jeff leaving someone that was supposed to be his friend on the side of his road. Or maybe he had, and it had just been covered up. He didn't know, couldn't know. All he could know was what had happened today. What that asshole Hardy had done to Eve. Maybe when he wasn't on drugs, he was a decent enough guy, but when he was high...

"Fucking bastard," Punk said as he rose to his feet, rolling his shoulders like a boxer getting ready to fight... Not that he had anything or anyone to fight against at the moment. He could throw things, yeah, but that would just lead to him getting fined for damaging his hotel room. And he'd much rather throw a few punches - and kicks - in Hardy's face than pay for screwing up his hotel room. Of course, if he just walked up to Hardy and broke his fucking nose, then he would be the bad guy. Unless Eve spoke up and announced to the world what had happened... And he figured some of the sheep-like fans the Hardys seemed to draw to them would find a way to blame her. Like it was her fault that he liked to snort part of his paycheck up his nose in powder form or something. Like it wasn't his choice to get high. Like it wasn't his choice to just fucking leave her like he did. That, unfortunately, was something he saw as one of the biggest problems of the Hardy brothers - not just Jeff, but that self-righteous prick of a brother of his, too. People always made excuses for them, no matter what they did or how much they acted like immature douchebags that refused to fucking grow up, and the pair of them bought into their own hype.

Someone needed to teach them a lesson. Or, at least, given the current circumstances, someone needed to teach Jeff Hardy a lesson.

Of course, Punk already knew damned good and well who he personally wanted that 'someone' to be. He wanted to do it himself. He wanted to beat the shit out of Jeff Hardy, and more than anything else, he wanted Hardy to know that the beat down was coming because of what he'd done to Eve. Because of what could have happened to Eve if the wrong person had stopped first. CM Punk wanted, at least for the moment, to be the hero. Which was funny, really, because he never saw himself as the hero type. And he knew damn good and well that if he went after Jeff, then the fans wouldn't see him as the hero type, either. These people worshiped Hardy with the blinders on, and anyone that went after him would be the bad guy.

Punk frowned, an image of how Eve had looked when he'd found her passing through his mind again, and he shook his head slightly. Maybe, sometimes, it wasn't so bad to be seen as the bad guy. Especially if a guy knew that he had a damn good reason for doing what he was doing. But he couldn't just go up to Hardy and punch him in the nose. As fun as that might be, all it would do was bloody Hardy's nose and maybe break it. That wouldn't keep a guy down too long, and Hardy deserved to be down and out for as long as possible.

Shaking his head, CM Punk continued to pace back and forth across the length of his hotel room, a frown on his face, his gaze darting around as if looking for a clue as to what to do. As to what he could do to really make Hardy hurt. And then he saw it.

The briefcase. The Money in the Bank briefcase that he'd won at WrestleMania not so very long ago. It had become a bit of a tradition for the winner of the briefcase to carry it around with him until he cashed it in. Edge had done it, as had RVD, Kennedy had done the same until he'd been dumb enough to put it on the line in a match against Edge and Edge had won it from him. Punk himself had done it the year before when he'd won the briefcase for the first time, and he was doing it again now. A reminder that he could have a title match whenever he wanted one. All he had to do was head out there with the briefcase and a referee and cash it in. Last year, he'd cashed it in on Edge. The same man was the champion now, but he knew damn good and well that might not stay the same for long.

Because Jeff Hardy had a title shot at Extreme Rules. A ladder match against Edge, for all of Jeff Hardy's dreams. Hardy had held the title before, but he'd held it for barely more than a month thanks to the fact that his own brother had turned against him and cost him the title. Now, months later, he was going to get a chance at it again. All of Jeff Hardy's dreams all wrapped up in one match. Punk didn't doubt that Jeff could win the match. Well, when he wasn't high. If he was on something, he'd probably forget to climb that ladder or something. But that wasn't the point. The point was the match. The title. The one thing Jeff Hardy had worked all those years for. He could win that title in a few weeks, take it away from Edge. Jeff Hardy could become the World Heavyweight Champion.

And sitting in the corner, CM Punk had a briefcase that carried a contract that would allow him to take it away from Jeff whenever he wanted to. All he had to do was wait for his moment, cash it in, and pin Hardy for the three. Get Hardy where it would hurt him the worst.

Punk allowed himself the smallest of smiles. "Payback's a bitch, Hardy. And you'll never even see it coming."


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer, etc., in part 1. Thanks to everyone that has reviewed so far.

* * *

Part Six

She walked slowly, carefully, a frown on the brunette's face as she made her way through the backstage area, completely unsure of what was going to happen now. Eve hadn't seen Jeff since he'd tossed her out of the car and driven off, but she did know that he'd managed to make it to the next city despite how high he'd been. Of course, she only knew that because he'd had her bags taken to her room by one of the hotel workers after she'd gotten there. And given the expectant look on the man's face when he'd brought her the bags, Jeff had probably promised him that she'd tip him for it... Which she'd done, the diva blinking back tears as she'd fished around in her purse for some cash to tip the guy. A guy that had no way of knowing just how it was that she'd ended up arriving at the hotel without her bags or her cell phone, which she'd found shoved in one of the side pockets of her suitcase.

She hadn't seen or spoken to anyone in the company since CM Punk had walked her to her hotel room, the man watching her carefully each step of the way, like he was worried she was either going to collapse or burst into tears. She'd done neither, though she had shed a few tears once she'd been alone, then again once her bags had been brought to her, but as she stood in the backstage area of the arena now - her feet throbbing in the slip-on shoes she was wearing - Eve's expression was calm, any sign of tears long gone. Aside from the fact she couldn't keep from limping slightly, no one would ever know that she was in pain. She didn't want anyone to know; despite knowing that it wasn't her fault, she didn't want others to know what had happened. Or, at least, she didn't want the entire freaking company to know what had happened. CM Punk knowing was bad enough... And no, that wasn't fair. He'd been nothing but nice to her after what had happened, and the man hadn't given any indication that he planned to spread the story. He wasn't exactly a gossip, unlike certain other people backstage-

"I can't believe you!"

Eve jerked at the sound of the voice, a frown on her face as she turned to see Maria Kanellis striding towards her, the slim blonde form of Kelly Kelly just a few feet behind her. Maria was the one that had spoken, and the woman looked more than a little angry. Eve quickly ran through her actions over the past couple of days in her mind, trying to figure out what Maria might be angry about, and she couldn't find anything noteworthy. She shook her head, knowing that her confusion was written all over her face.

"I don't understand-"

"You ditched Jeff!" Maria declared, hands coming to rest on her hips, and Eve had to force herself not to take a step back in shock... Though she knew she hadn't been able to keep the surprise off of her face at the other woman's words.

"I what?" Eve managed to say, her gaze flicking from Maria to Kelly and back again, the woman starting to shake her head, opening her mouth to defend herself, but Maria didn't really give her a chance to do so.

"You heard me! You ditched Jeff. He told us that you were supposed to ride with him and you didn't. You just took off with someone else."

Eve shook her head. "You've got to be kidding me," she muttered, and Maria crossed her arms over her chest, giving her a dirty look.

"You're his manager. His friend. Or you're supposed to be. And then you just ditch him... Leaving him with the bill for the rental car and everything after you scratched it. That's really crappy, Eve. You're lucky Jeff's such a nice guy. He should totally be making you pay for the damages to the car, and he's letting you off the hook. You don't know how lucky you are to have a friend like Jeff... And if you're not careful, you're going to lose him," Maria declared, saying the words in such a rush that Eve had absolutely no chance at all to interrupt her and set her straight - not that Eve thought she would accept the truth now that Jeff had fed her those lies she'd so obviously eaten up - the older diva then spinning on her heel and stalking off, leaving Eve alone in the hallway. Well, nearly alone. Kelly Kelly was still there... And the expression on the blonde woman's face was nothing like the one that had been on Maria's face.

Kelly quickly glanced back and forth down the hall, apparently making sure that no one else was around before she approached the brunette. "You okay?"

Eve took a deep breath, squaring her shoulders before she spoke, determined to keep her voice firm, forcing herself to stay calm despite the fact that she rather felt like bursting into tears after hearing what Maria had said... After hearing what Jeff had apparently claimed had happened. "I'm fine."

"No, you're not. But we can pretend you are. You're limping a little. Maria didn't notice."

"She was too busy biting my head off to notice anything. Jeff's a big, strong man. You'd think she'd let him fight his own battles. Or does she still have dreams of one day ending up in his bed?" Eve questioned, knowing it was a bit cruel, but also figuring that not only was Maria not there to hear her words; Maria had been pretty cruel herself a few moments before. Besides that, the older woman's crush on Jeff Hardy hadn't exactly ever been a secret in the divas' locker room. Probably not just the divas' locker room, either. If Jeff didn't know about it, it was probably only because he'd been too drugged up to notice.

Kelly snorted. "I'm not sure she'd even require a bed if she got a chance with him," the blonde woman said, smiling slightly at Eve's surprised look. "What? I can be catty, too. Especially when someone hurts my friend... And in all honesty, over the past year or so, you've been a better friend to me than Maria ever has. And if she would believe that you'd mess up a car, then ditch someone and leave them to deal with it, then she doesn't know you very well. What really happened?"

"You don't believe Jeff." A statement, not a question, but Kelly still took it as such, the blonde woman shrugging as she replied.

"Nope. Because I know you. And I know him. He has a past of mistakes. Screw ups. He can be nice enough... When he's not on something. I've seen him when he's on something. It's not pleasant," the younger diva said, and Eve frowned, forgetting her own worries for a moment as she took in the look on Kelly's face. Ignoring the pain in her feet, she stepped closer to the blonde, concern etched on her face.

"Kelly... Has Jeff ever... Has he ever hurt you? Has he done something to you?"

The blonde girl shook her head. "No. Not like you mean. He's never hurt me. My feelings, maybe. 'Cause he's a real jerk when he's on something. Calls people names. Not that I haven't heard some of them before... Just not from people I thought were my friends, you know?"

"Kelly..."

"This isn't about me," Kelly said before Eve could think of anything else to say, anything to comfort the younger woman. The blonde heaved out a sigh. "You want to tell me what really happened with you and Jeff?" the young diva continued, and Eve looked away, hating that she was starting to feel like crying again... Determined not to let her tears get the best of her. No one backstage tonight was going to see her cry. She was going to hold her composure.

"Not really, actually. Talking about it's not going to do any good," she finally stated, and Kelly crossed her arms over her chest, shifting her weight to one side as she looked at the brunette in front of her.

"You really think that bottling it up inside is going to be any better? Because I really doubt it," the blonde woman said, looking for all the world that she intended to try and get the information out of Eve, and Eve knew that it wasn't out of any sort of malice. Kelly meant well. She always meant well. Sometimes the girl was too damn sweet for her own good... Which had led to her getting hurt more than once. But while Eve knew that all Kelly wanted to do was help, she also knew that right now was not the time and the backstage area was not the place to rehash what had happened to her with Jeff. She was just opening her mouth to tell Kelly not now, that she would tell her later, when the blonde's demeanor quickly changed, the tense look sliding off her face as Kelly suddenly smiled.

"So I'll have those magazines to you by tomorrow morning, okay? You just have to read this one article, I know you'll love it," the blonde woman said, confusing Eve thoroughly, the brunette opening her mouth to ask Kelly just what the hell she was talking about when the blonde girl's gaze cut over to a spot over Eve's shoulder, the brunette quickly glancing over to see who was there, fearing that it would be Jeff Hardy - she wasn't sure how she was going to face him, especially now that she knew he'd been telling lies about what had happened - the diva more than a little relieved to see that it wasn't him.

It was CM Punk. She wasn't entirely sure that was much better... What if he said something in front of Kelly? Asked her about her leg or made a remark about Jeff or...

"Kelly... Eve," the man said simply, acknowledging them both with a slight nod, though his gaze was on Eve. His dark eyes seemed to bore right into her, holding her gaze for a moment that she wasn't sure of the length of, and then he broke the gaze, giving her a once-over that Eve knew was nothing more than him looking for any obvious signs that she wasn't okay. The man nodded slightly after a few seconds, then went to make his way past them, his hand coming up briefly to rest on Eve's shoulder, giving it a light squeeze, though he said nothing more, and Eve couldn't help but watch his form as he moved down the hallway, her gaze followed him until he turned the corner and went out of sight. Shaking herself slightly, the brunette returned her attention to Kelly Kelly, finding the blonde woman eyeing her with the slightest of smiles on her face.

"What was that?" she wanted to know, and Eve shrugged.

"What was what?"

"The look... The touch... The thing where neither of you could take your eyes off the other. I might as well have not been here," Kelly said, then frowned slightly. "Does it have something to do with whatever happened?" she asked, suddenly serious, and Eve gave a weary sigh.

"I'll explain it all later," the brunette said, and Kelly gave her a look.

"You better."


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer, etc., in part 1.

* * *

Part Seven

The last thing that Eve wanted to do was deal with Jeff Hardy. Unfortunately, she was listed as his manager for his match that night, which meant she had a choice... To either face him prior to the match and deal with what had happened, or to wait until it was time for the match and try to pretend that everything was okay while she was out there with him... Well, she had a third choice, too: to refuse to walk him out, but she had a feeling that would get her in trouble with the SmackDown GM and, as a diva that only wrestled on occasion, she couldn't really afford to do that. She needed to have someone to manage to keep things going with her WWE career when the matches were fewer and further between. Unfortunately, that meant that, at least for tonight, she couldn't really rock the boat and just ditch Jeff. Maybe by next week she'd have something else figured out...

Heaving out a sigh, the diva forced herself to push open the door to Jeff's locker room, not bothering to knock, because she didn't really care if she pissed him off. Not after what he'd done. Not after the lies he'd told the others.

He smirked when he saw her. "So, you did make it to the show."

"No thanks to you, asshole. And on top of that, you're a fucking liar, too," Eve snapped out before she could stop herself, the diva furious beyond belief at the sight of him... So calm and self-assured. He didn't give a damn what he'd done to her. Who knows... Maybe he'd managed to rationalize it to himself and convince himself that what he'd done wasn't that bad or that somehow she'd deserved it.

"I have no idea what you mean."

"You lied to Maria. You told her I messed up the car and that I ditched you-"

"Yeah... And you're lucky I'm such a nice guy, Eve. I mean... I paid for the damage myself. I really should have made you pay for it," Jeff said simply, as if he was actually telling the truth, and she thought the fact that he was saying it so casually, with so little malice, as if he actually believed what he was saying... She thought that made it all even worse.

"You did the damage. You tossed me out of the fucking car and drove off... and apparently hit something along the way if you've got damage you have to pay for," Eve shot back, and Jeff shrugged.

"That's what you say. See, I say you did it... And since I'm Jeff Hardy, and you're just lowly Eve Torres... Well, I wonder who they're going to believe? Maria and Kelly believe me," the younger of the Hardy brothers said, and Eve had to bite her lip to keep from blurting out that he shouldn't be so sure about that. Because while Maria was apparently ready to believe anything Jeff said, it was obvious to Eve that Kelly didn't believe him in the least. And while the urge to tell him that he didn't have people as snowed as he thought he did was strong, something stopped her. After all, he was already spreading lies about her. If he knew Kelly didn't believe what he was saying, maybe he would spread lies about the blonde, too, and the last thing Eve wanted to do was alienate someone that believed her over Jeff.

"You're an asshole. I don't know why I didn't see it before, but you're just as much of an asshole as your brother is. Maybe worse. And maybe you just hide it better. At least when you're not high, anyway," Eve said, stepping closer to her, forcing herself to meet his green eyes... Shaking her head when she saw that his eyes were dilated. A glance at his hand told her that it was shaking slightly. "You're still high, aren't you? Or you're coming down from it... Or took something else recently. You have a match tonight, Jeff-"

"So? It's not like I'm the first guy to step into the ring with a little pick-me-up going on. And it's not like anyone's going to believe you-"

"All they have to do is take a good look at you to realize you're on something," Eve spat back at him, the diva shaking her head and turning to leave the room, forcing herself not to limp as she walked, not caring about the pain, just not wanting Jeff to know that she was injured.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" he demanded, and she sent a sneer over her shoulder at him.

"Where do you think I'm going? To get an official to prove you can't be out there tonight!" she shot back, reaching for the door, then nearly screaming when he reached out and grabbed her arm, yanking her around and slamming her against the wall. He put his arm across her throat, pressing hard enough that it was difficult to breathe, much less get the breath she would need to scream for help. Her eyes widened in shock at his actions because even now, even after what he'd done before, she still had trouble believing he was putting his hands on her like this. How had she not seen this before? This side of him? Had she simply been lucky? Had it just been by happy accident that she'd managed to stay out of his way when he was on a rampage? Or had she been so worried about her position as his manager for so long that she'd tiptoed around him so much that he'd just never gotten pissed at her before? She'd seen him high before, yes... But never like this. Maybe it was because she'd always tried to avoid being around very much when he was high... Mostly, she'd just made sure he got to bed and didn't end up dying because he'd choked on his own vomit. Before today, she'd always been able to get away when he was high or drunk or stoned, but today in the car, she hadn't been able to escape, hadn't had anyone else there as a buffer. And now, all she could think was that she couldn't believe that it had come to this. That somehow, in the past twenty-four hours, any illusions she'd still had that Jeff Hardy was a decent guy that just liked to party too much had been completely shattered.

"You're not telling anybody anything, Eve. You're going to keep your mouth shut if you want to keep your job, because I can and will get you fired. You're just a diva. I'm Jeff fucking Hardy, and I'm going to be the champion in a few weeks. Edge will lose, I will win, and the fans will love every minute of it. Because the fans love me. And they won't believe a word you say if you try to claim anything about me."

Eve reached up, managing to get her hands on his chest and shoving him back a few steps. Glaring at him, she rubbed at her throat. "Are you so sure they won't believe me if I say you're trashed? You have been suspended twice, you know."

"Maybe. But everyone makes mistakes, and I'm sorry for it now. I keep my nose clean."

"By snorting stuff up it?" Eve couldn't help but ask, the diva taking a step back from him and actually running into the wall when she saw the look he sent her way for that remark. Clearly, he didn't appreciate her words.

"I'm the good guy, Eve. Everyone likes a good story. Guy cleans up his act, becomes champion. They'd hate you for ruining it. Not that they would believe you-"

"How do you pass the drug tests? You're clearly high right now. You've probably gotten into the ring high. The drug tests are random... How do you not get caught?"

He shrugged. "I have my ways. Maybe I just know better people than you do," the man said. He shook his head, smirking as he stepped back from her, no longer crowding her personal space. "How'd you get here, anyway?" he wanted to know, and Eve snorted.

"Like you care."

"I guess I don't. But you're here. Since I had your cell phone delivered to you with the rest of your stuff this afternoon - thoughtful, I know - I'm sure you didn't call someone to come and get you. So how'd you get to the hotel and, well... Here?" he asked, and something told Eve not to tell him the truth. Something told her that, all in all, it would be best if she kept the fact that CM Punk had come to her rescue a secret. She didn't know why she felt that way... Maybe she just liked having a secret from Jeff Hardy. Maybe she liked knowing that there was at least one other person in the company that knew what a complete bastard he was. Maybe two other people if Kelly ended up believing her story as well. Maybe she liked the idea that, at some point, CM Punk may just get pissed off and go after Jeff Hardy and Jeff wouldn't have any idea as to the reason why. Whatever the reason, she didn't tell the truth about what had happened that day after he'd driven off without her.

"I walked back to the rest stop. You know... The one we were at when you decided you just couldn't wait to get high. It had a payphone, and I had money. I called information, then managed to get a cab to come and get me. I paid a fortune, but I got here. I also took a cab to the arena," Eve informed him, keeping her expression neutral, wondering what he'd say if he knew that the only honest thing in her explanation was actually her final sentence. Sure, her plan had been to walk back to the rest stop and make a few phone calls, but she hadn't actually been planning to call a cab; she'd been planning to call a friend. But he didn't need to know that, just like he didn't need to know about her injured leg or feet or the daze she'd been in when Punk had basically rescued her. A tattooed knight driving a slightly battered car.

Jeff smirked. "Too embarrassed to call a friend and tell the truth? Good. Keep it that way. No one would believe if you tried to tell the truth now anyway. Now... I suggest you go and find something decent to wear to walk me out. Those shoes are awful-"

"What makes you think I'm walking you out tonight-"

"Because you have two choices... Act like everything's fine and walk me out... Or don't and try to tell people the truth, and I make your life in the WWE miserable. Your choice. I'm sure you'll make the right one."


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer, etc., in part 1. Thanks to all that have reviewed/favorited/followed this one. :-)

* * *

Part Eight

"He did what?!"

Eve heaved out a sigh, the dark-haired woman jerking her hands through her hair as she looked at the outraged blonde that was seated in the lone chair in her hotel room. The good news was, while Kelly looked incredibly angry at the moment, she didn't seem to be angry at Eve. Instead, she was angry - furious - at Jeff Hardy. "You heard me."

"Of course I heard you, I'm just... I'm trying to figure out how, in whatever world he lives in, Jeff thought it was okay to do that to you!" Kelly sputtered, shaking her head. "You should tell Maria the truth about what happened."

"And what? Have her call me a liar? Jeff could tell her that the moon is made of green cheese and that the Harry Potter movies are based on a true story, and she'd probably believe him."

"She's not that bad. I mean, I'm pretty sure she realizes that Harry Potter's just a story. I think. But I get your point. But still... You said you were hurt when he pushed you out of the car. You could show her the scrape on your leg."

"She'd claim I got them from something else," Eve said on a sigh, wincing slightly as she shifted the way she was sitting. She'd cleaned the scrapes again earlier, before Kelly had come to her room, and they still stung a bit. She hadn't shown the cuts and scrapes to Kelly, either, and she was hoping that the younger woman wouldn't ask to see them. It was bad enough knowing that CM Punk had seen the damage that had been done. Eve wasn't big on the idea of showing it off to anyone else. "It's all about who she wants to believe, Kelly. And from what I saw earlier, clearly she wants to believe Jeff."

"Stupid bitch," Kelly muttered, then shrugged at the look that Eve gave her. "Yeah, it's rude. I don't really care. She believed everything Jeff said without even giving you a chance to explain your side. If she was really the friend she claims to be..." The blonde trailed off, then shook her head. "It doesn't matter. Maria can believe whatever she wants to. I believe you."

"And I'm grateful that you do. I don't know what I would do if everyone just believed Jeff, no questions asked. No... Nothing." Eve shook her head, then closed her eyes for a moment, hating that she felt tears coming on and trying to keep them from falling.

Kelly heaved out a sigh, the younger woman getting up from her seat and coming over to where Eve sat on the bed, sitting next to her and putting her arm around the older diva's shoulders. "I know this sucks, Eve. I can't even begin to imagine... I would have been really scared. If it had been me."

"I was really scared," Eve admitted on a sigh, the brunette opening her eyes. "All I could think was that I needed to get back to that rest stop and call someone..." The older woman trailed off, staring at the wall without really seeing it, thinking about it all. She hadn't told Kelly the entire story yet, just what Jeff had done; she hadn't gotten to what happened afterward, the part where she'd been rescued.

"Well, the important thing is that you're okay now," Kelly said, then suddenly frowned. "You are okay, right? I mean... Nothing else happened, did it. No one..."

Before Kelly could finish her inquiry, there was a sudden knock on the hotel room door, and the blonde woman frowned as she rose to her feet. She quickly glanced back at Eve, then made her way across the room, probably intending to tell whoever was at the door to just go, especially if it was someone like Maria or Jeff coming to cause more trouble. It wasn't either of them, however, the blonde diva blinking in surprise when she opened the door to find CM Punk standing there. He frowned slightly at the sight of her, his gaze moving back toward the room number that was on the wall next to the door.

"I thought Eve was in this room," he said, then winced a little, like maybe he thought he shouldn't have told her who he was looking for, the man starting to take a step back, then frowning when Kelly reached out and grabbed the front of his shirt, fisting her hand in the material and preventing him from leaving. "Um..."

"This is her room. I just stopped by to talk to her. 'Cause, you know, she's one of my best friends," Kelly said, frowning a bit as she eyed the man, the diva thinking about what she'd seen earlier that night... The look that Punk had given Eve before he'd gone on his way. The way Eve had looked at him as well. Clearly, there was something going on, and she kind of figured that it had something to do with what had happened to Eve earlier. And since there weren't a lot of options for the role that Punk would have played in the whole mess... "You know what happened earlier, don't you? What Jeff did?"

CM Punk didn't respond to Kelly's questions, instead just looking at her for a moment before carefully pushing past her and into the room, making his way over to where Eve sat on the bed... Kelly hurriedly shutting the door once more and turning to see how her friend would react to the man's sudden presence.

"You okay?" he asked, and Eve looked up at him, meeting his gaze only briefly before she looked away.

"I'm fine."

"Sure you are. Did you put anything on the cuts on your feet?" he asked, and Kelly frowned.

"Your feet? You just said you had a scrape on your leg."

Punk winced slightly as he realized that Kelly apparently didn't know all of the details about what had happened earlier. He sent Eve an apologetic look as the brunette woman rose to her feet, flinching a bit at the soreness of her feet. "It's nothing, Kelly," Eve said, and the blonde gave her a disbelieving look.

"Why don't I buy that?"

"I don't know. But it's nothing you need to worry about," Eve said, then held up a hand when Kelly looked like she was going to protest. "Please. Just let it go for now. Please."

Kelly frowned, then heaved out a sigh. "Fine. For now." She glanced at Punk, then looked over at Eve, reading the expression on her friend's face, then nodding slightly. "I'll see you later," the blonde said as she grabbed her purse and the key card to her own hotel room, then headed for the door, pausing to look back at Punk. "If you upset her, I'll run over you with my car," she declared, and Punk arched a brow at her.

"I can think of someone else that deserves that threat a bit more," he said, and Kelly conceded that with a slight nod before leaving the room, Punk staring at the closed door for just a moment before turning his attention back to Eve, the diva still not meeting his eyes. After a moment, she sat down again, wanting to get off her feet, and she jerked in surprise when CM Punk suddenly fell to his knees in front of her, the dark-haired man pushing his hair back from his face as he looked up at her. "What's going on?" the man asked, and she shrugged, looking away.

"I don't know what you mean."

"Oh, but you do. Obviously you told Kelly at least part of what happened today. I'm guessing she knows Jeff left you. I'm guessing she didn't know until I showed up that I was the one that picked you up... Or how badly you're hurt."

"It's not like I lied. I told her about my leg, just not my feet and the whole 'my shoes were still in his car' thing. And they're just cuts. They'll heal."

"Not if you don't take care of them," he told her, the man heaving out a sigh as he moved so that he was sitting on the floor instead of kneeling on it. "Since I figure they're a pain for you to get a good look at, I'll check them out for you later if you want. But first... I think we need to talk."

Eve shook her head slightly, hating that she felt like crying. Tears were a weakness, and she was sick of feeling weak. "I don't know what we need to talk about."

"You're a stubborn one, aren't you? Well, that's okay. 'Cause I'm stubborn, too," the wrestler said, surprising Eve into looking at him when he reached out and put his hand on top of hers. She'd been clutching at the bed's comforter so tightly that her knuckles were probably white from the effort, and she forced herself to loosen her grip as she felt Punk's thumb moving gently over the back of her hand. His voice was quiet when he spoke. "You want to tell me why you walked out with Jeff Hardy tonight?"

"Not really," she replied, and he sighed.

"Yeah, I figured as much. I bet Kelly would tell me. Because she seems concerned about you. Like a good friend. But I'd rather you tell me yourself. Because I don't want to go behind your back to get information," Punk told her, and Eve closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath... The opening her eyes and looking at him, meeting his gaze, his dark eyes filled with concern. Concern for her.

She took a deep breath to try and keep herself from crying. "He lied. To Maria and to Kelly and to who knows who else. He told them that I ditched him. Of course, since he didn't know how I'd managed to get to the hotel, he couldn't exactly tell them who I ditched him for... Not that Maria needed to know that. She'll believe anything Jeff says."

"And Kelly didn't believe."

"No, she didn't."

"That still doesn't explain why you walked out with him, Eve. After what he did to you-"

"I'm just a diva, Punk. You don't know what it means to be a woman in this business," she said quietly, and he nodded.

"You're right, I don't. But being a woman in this business doesn't mean that you have to put up with an asshole like Jeff Hardy treating you like dirt-"

"He could turn everyone against me and ruin my career. I barely ever wrestle. I don't do interviews any longer and they handed that job over to someone else. I need someone to manage. Otherwise, the company may not see a reason to keep me around. No one would believe me if I told the truth about what Jeff did."

"Kelly believes you. I believe-"

"Would you believe me if you hadn't seen it with your own eyes? The truth, Punk. Would you have believed me?" she asked, and he held her gaze for a long moment, giving her hand a light squeeze.

"Yes, Eve. I would have believed you. Jeff Hardy's messed up. And, quite frankly, I'm not sure I would ever feel the need to believe a guy like him over you," the man stated, maintaining eye contact as he spoke, wanting her to see his honesty. Wanting her to trust him. The hardest thing was, she found herself both wanting to trust him and being afraid to trust him. After all, even if she'd known Jeff had problems, until today, she'd thought she could trust him not to hurt her, and he'd proven her wrong about that. But then again... The man sitting there on the floor of her hotel room was the one that had found her, the one that had taken care of her. If there was anyone she could trust, it was him.

Eve took a deep breath. "Just because you and Kelly believe me doesn't mean anyone else will," Eve said quietly. "Especially if he's already telling lies. He'd probably even come up with a reason for why I've got these cuts if I tried to use them as proof." She shifted self-consciously. "Not that I'd show them to anyone, because..." She shook her head, trailing off, and CM Punk sighed.

"It's not your fault. You know that, right? What he did to you is not your fault. He's the bastard, Eve," the wrestler said, and the diva sighed, closing her eyes.

"I know. I know it, I really do. But it... It doesn't stop the way I feel. Like... I did nothing wrong, and it's not my fault, and I have nothing to be ashamed of, but... I am. Okay? I *am* ashamed, and I don't want people to know that someone did that to me, and..." She trailed off as her voice broke, the woman wiping angrily at the tears that refused to go away, and then she felt the bed shift as someone moved to sit beside her - Punk, obviously, since he was the only other person in the room - an arm coming to wrap around her shoulders. He tried to bring her closer to him, urging her to rest her head on his shoulder, but Eve resisted at first, knowing she'd probably lose it totally if she gave into the comfort that he was offering... But he was persistent, somehow keeping his grip on her both gentle and firm, and it was only a few seconds before she gave in, leaning against him as she cried on his shoulder, the man's arms coming to wrap around her more fully.

"Shh... It's okay. You're safe now. Kelly and I know the truth. You're not going to ride with him again. You're going to ride with one of us. Kelly knows I'm on your side. If he ever tries to pull anything... I'll beat the shit out of him, and I won't regret it. I'm going to beat the shit out of him anyway for what he's already done-"

The woman shook her head, pushing herself away from him, bracing her hands against his shoulders to keep him far enough away that she could look him in the eye. She knew her eyes were puffy and red from crying - thank goodness she'd already taken her makeup off, or else she'd look like a raccoon - but she figured he was well aware that she'd been in tears, so it didn't matter all that much. "No, Punk. You can't just do that-"

"Yes, Eve, I can-"

"And everyone will want to know why. And he'll know why, and then he'll make something up to make you look bad. To make us both look bad. Even if we tell the truth, even..." She shook her head. "People won't believe it. And it's not like he physically assaulted me," the diva said, wincing as she got to her feet and made her way over to the window in the room, CM Punk instantly following her.

"I'm pretty sure that mark on your leg is from when he shoved you out of the car. And on top of that, we both know that what he did could have ended up worse than him knocking you around. He left you alone, barefoot, with no phone, with nothing but your purse, in the middle of nowhere. If someone besides me had stopped... You know what could have happened, Eve. You know, I know it, and I'm thinking Kelly knows it, too. Hell, even Jeff Hardy, somewhere in that asshole brain of his, knows it. The difference between him and the rest of us is that he just doesn't give a shit."

She closed her eyes. "I can't handle this right now," Eve finally whispered, and he sighed, moving to stand in front of her, his hand on her chin as he guided her to look at him.

"I know. Today was shit, and you're overwhelmed, and I'm guessing you don't know what to do. I don't have the right to push you. I just want you to be safe."

"Punk..."

"We both know you're not safe with him. I'll keep my distance, for now. But I'm keeping an eye on him. And if you ever need anything, you can come to me. I won't bring you into this. But I can't guarantee that I can wait for you to give me the go-ahead to go after him. Just so you know. I'll pick my time, I'll pick my place... But one of these days, I'm going to hurt him. That's a guarantee."


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer, etc., in part 1.

* * *

Part Nine

She stood at ringside, once again wishing that she wasn't there, but not really feeling that she had a choice in the matter.

It had been two weeks. Two long weeks since it had all happened. The cuts were gone. Wearing high heels no longer hurt her. She avoided Jeff unless they were at arenas, where she made sure that they were always around other people. She'd figured that much out. He wanted people to love him, and if he acted like a shit toward her in front of other people, then he might get called on it. So she made sure she was never alone with him. She'd ridden to all the shows with Kelly, the blonde woman continually muttering about wanting to run Jeff down with their rental car but never actually doing anything about it. Sometimes she felt like telling Kelly to just stop going on about it, but she didn't want to lose her only friend - Maria virtually ignored her unless she was giving her a dirty look - so Eve kept her mouth shut, letting Kelly fantasize about doing harm to Jeff. She knew it was innocent enough; Kelly wouldn't actually do anything to the man. But Eve knew damn good and well that there was someone else that was still chomping at the bit to do some damage to the younger Hardy brother.

CM Punk.

She knew that he watched her. She'd caught him a few times... Happened to look over and catch his eye. He hadn't seemed embarrassed about it, just holding her gaze for a few moments before looking away. It didn't bother her to know he was keeping an eye on her, not really. Sometimes she worried that he would just go bonkers and beat the shit out of Jeff and then there would be so much to explain... Why he did it, all of that... But so far, he'd held himself back. Oh, she'd seen him glare daggers in Jeff's general direction on more than one occasion, but she didn't think anyone else had seen it. Or if they had, they hadn't really paid attention to it. She hadn't heard any whispers about anyone thinking there might be problems between the two men. And despite the fact that she knew CM Punk was trying to keep an eye on her, trying to make sure that she was okay, despite the fact that she knew damn good and well that he hadn't stopped hating Jeff for what the man had done to her... Part of her thought that, maybe, just maybe, CM Punk had given up on the idea of going after Jeff himself. He did, after all, have his own problems to deal with. One problem in particular, really, that had the downside of being physically capable of tearing Punk in half if he wanted to - Umaga. The behemoth had been giving Punk trouble for weeks, since before everything had happened between her and Jeff, and the problems had continued right up to tonight's pay per view - Extreme Rules. The two men had faced each other in a match tonight, in a Samoan Strap match, as it had been dubbed, which really wasn't any different than a regular strap match. CM Punk and Umaga had been connected to one another by a strap, and the winner of the match was the first guy to touch each of the four corners consecutively. No one had given Punk a chance to win, but he had. He'd somehow overcome the odds and beaten the big man, managing to hit the GTS on Umaga in order to get that fourth and final turnbuckle. She and Kelly had exchanged a smile at the end of the match, unable to cheer out loud since they'd been in the divas' locker room and would have been questioned about it. In reality, Eve had just been relieved that Punk had come out of the match without any major damage done. The fact that he'd actually won the match as well was just icing on the cake.

After CM Punk's match had ended, the rest of the pay per view had passed by in a bit of a blur, Eve wandering around a bit in order to avoid Jeff Hardy... But the final match of the night had finally come and now, here she was, standing at ringside while Jeff Hardy battled it out with Edge in a ladder match for the world heavyweight title. And to be honest, Eve sometimes found it ridiculous that they actually differentiated between a ladder match and a TLC match these days... The truth was, the two matches were more or less one and the same. In both case, the title - or briefcase or whatever - was hung above the ring and the object of the match was to climb and ladder and get the thing down. In both matches, anything was legal, which meant that tables and chairs could be used in ladder matches just as much as they could be used in TLC matches. She supposed the only difference was the name of the match and that tables and chairs were actually laid out at ringside for a TLC match. In a ladder match, the competitors had to get the chairs and tables on their own. It didn't really matter. Whatever the case, any weapon was allowed, and most of them were used at some point in the match. Edge had actually put Jeff in a sharpshooter through a ladder at one time in the match, the maneuver painful enough that Jeff had actually tapped out... Not that it meant anything, since this wasn't a submission match. The only way it would end was when one of them climbed to the top of the ladder and took possession of the title.

Eve hated the fact that she wasn't actually sure which one of them she wanted to see win.

The truth was, she didn't mind seeing Jeff Hardy in pain. Not anymore. Not after what he'd done to her two weeks before. It had been a bit difficult to act worried when Edge had put Jeff in the ladder-assisted sharpshooter. She'd actually wanted to smile at his pain, to mock him, but she'd known she couldn't do that. Not with so many eyes on her. Not when she couldn't be sure Jeff wouldn't get himself high as a kite and track her down to come after her later. So she'd acted concerned, though she'd been mentally patting Edge on the back for his ingenuity all the while. But the thing was... She wasn't so sure she wanted Edge to win, either. The guy was a jerk. He threw his weight around to keep getting title shots and title reigns because of who he was with, and he was a total creep. Of course, she was pretty sure that Edge didn't step into the ring after snorting stuff up his nose, and the same couldn't exactly be said for Jeff, so... Both of them were assholes, but in different ways. And while it would be nice if there was a way for neither of them to walk out of Extreme Rules with the title in hand, there were only two men in the match, and one of them had to walk away the winner.

And at the moment, it looked like that winner was going to be none other than Jeff Hardy.

Eve remained silent as she watched what was happening in the ring... The men had been fighting over the ladder, both trying to get to the title, and then Jeff had managed to hang Edge up in the ladder, the man falling through the rungs and getting stuck there as Jeff made his way up the ladder, reaching up and pulling the title free from its position hanging over the ring. And just like that, the match was over. Jeff's music was ringing out through the arena, the fans were going wild, and Eve couldn't do anything but stand there and stare. Logically, she'd know that there was a good chance Jeff would come out of the match as the new champion, but somehow, she hadn't been really prepared for it... Nor was it something she felt she could cheer for, especially when her mind was already coming up with all the ways that Jeff would probably celebrate, and only a few of the substances he'd be likely to ingest were legal.

She knew, of course, that she should climb into the ring and celebrate with him, but something stopped her, Eve unable to make herself go up to him and hug him and act like she gave a damn that he had a new gold belt to wear around his waist, so she instead continued to stand at ringside, forcing herself to clap and cheer and pretend that she was happy - she had to at least do that to keep up with the facade; she was, after all, still his manager. Even though she knew she had to behave, it was hard to fight the urge to roll her eyes when Jim Ross climbed into the ring with a microphone, clearly intending to interview Jeff on his 'amazing achievement'. Eve couldn't help but wonder if Jeff was sober enough to give an interview... Of course, if he wasn't and what he said didn't make any sense, they'd just write it off to him being in pain from his match. Everyone made excuses for Jeff. Before he'd tossed her out of their rental car a couple of weeks ago, she'd even made excuses for Jeff, so she wasn't any better than anyone else.

Shaking her head slightly, Eve prepared herself to listen to the interview - maybe even to be called into the ring so she could gush over Jeff's title win as well - the diva's back toward the ramp as she stood there at ringside... But her back didn't stay toward the ramp for very long. Because Jeff's music wasn't playing any longer. Someone else's music was ringing out, music she knew very well... Music that had already played tonight. More than once, actually. Once for his entrance, and once after he'd won his match. And it was playing again now.

CM Punk. And as she spun around to find him coming out with a referee, it hit her. The realization hit her as she saw the briefcase he held, the reminder that, at WrestleMania a few months before, CM Punk had been the winner of the money in the bank ladder match... For the second year in a row, actually. Last year, he'd cashed it in on Edge after the man had been attacked by Batista. And this year, right here, right now, he was cashing it in on Jeff Hardy.

As he made his way down the ramp with the referee at his side, he wasn't looking at Jeff Hardy, not at this moment. Instead he was looking at her, meeting her eyes, and Eve knew without a doubt that he was cashing in here, now, because of her. Because of what he knew Jeff had done. He'd told her that he was going to pick his time and his place and that he was going to hurt Jeff, and this was the time, this was the place. He'd bided his time the past two weeks, waiting until now, when Jeff suddenly had the title he'd always wanted, a title he'd held before, but only for a matter of weeks. And now, just minutes after he'd gotten it back, CM Punk was intending to take it from him again. And in the process, CM Punk was turning himself into the villain. It wouldn't matter to the fans that Punk had every right to do this. That the money in the bank contract was all about being an opportunist. Taking down a champion when he was already vulnerable. Because Punk was taking down their hero. And he was doing it because of her; she knew he was. If Edge had come out victorious tonight, odds were that Punk wouldn't have come out to cash in. He wanted to hurt Jeff, and this was the way to do it.

She felt a hand at her hip as Punk passed her by, just there for a moment, his fingers brushing the small amount of bare skin that showed between the bottom of her shirt and the top of her jeans, nearly causing her to shiver. The touch was brief, gone almost as soon as she registered it, and Eve knew that he'd kept it that way on purpose. While she knew that his decision to cash in right now had at least something to do with her, CM Punk wasn't about to let anyone else know that. He was going to let people think that this was all about him, all about the title and him seeing the best opportunity to get the title. And if she hadn't locked eyes with him, if he had just walked by her without even touching her at all, she would have believed that was what it was all about. The fans, however, knew nothing about what Jeff had done to her, knew nothing about how Punk had helped her or how furious he'd been, so they would believe it was just about the title. They would believe that Punk had seen his chance and taken it.

And they would hate him for it.

Eve knew it. The fans practically worshipped Jeff for the risks he took; the majority of them would hate whoever it was that had taken Jeff's moment of glory, and that was exactly what CM Punk was doing. He was standing there, in the ring, barely waiting for Jeff to get to his feet, barely waiting for the match to be announced and the bell to ring before he yanked Jeff up for the GTS. He hit it easily - despite having a match himself tonight, Punk was clearly by far the fresher man, clearly in far less pain - then went for the pin... The crowd erupting when Jeff somehow managed to kick out at two. The fans went even crazier when Jeff tried to roll Punk up for a surprise win, managing a two count of his own before the younger CM Punk got his shoulders off the mat, something like shock and fury in the younger man's eyes as he got back to his feet. He yanked Jeff up with him, getting him back up on his shoulders for another GTS and, this time, it was just too much for Jeff. He had no fight left in him and once the surprise roll-up failed, there wasn't much else Jeff could do. CM Punk rolled Jeff over onto his back, hooked the leg, and got the pin.

Jeff Hardy, the man that had become the new World Heavyweight Champion less than five minutes before, was now the former champion.

CM Punk was the new champion. He'd cashed in on Jeff, taken out the vulnerable champion, and he was now holding the World Heavyweight Championship over his head as the crowd tried to figure out what had happened... Eve could see Jeff laying there, wondering where it all went wrong, wondering this had happened to him here and now... The diva fighting to keep her expression neutral when she really wanted to smile because she knew why it had happened, she knew why Punk had chosen this moment. The look in the man's eyes as he turned his head to meet her gaze told her exactly why he'd chosen this moment. And she was glad for it. Eve was glad that this had happened to Jeff. That he'd gotten what he wanted only to have it taken away an instant later. Maybe it made her a bitch, but she was glad she was hurting. But even as she stood there, secretly enjoying the lost look on Jeff's face, she couldn't help but wonder exactly what he would do now.

And whether or not she would somehow be the one to pay for this.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer, etc., in part 1.

* * *

Part Ten

"I can't believe he did this! He shouldn't have been allowed to just come out there and demand a title match!" Maria complained, and Kelly and Eve exchanged a look, both divas just barely managing to avoid rolling their eyes at the older woman's words. After a moment, Kelly stepped forward, the blonde woman clearing her throat before she spoke.

"Um, Maria... I hate to break it to you, but... That's the thing with the Money in the Bank contract. CM Punk could cash it in whenever he wanted to. Everyone that's ever won it has done the same thing... Except for RVD, maybe, but he was probably too stoned to realize the rules," Kelly stated, and Maria glared at her.

"This isn't funny-"

"I'm not saying it is... But look at the history of the contract. Edge cashed in on Cena after John had been in the elimination chamber. I may not have been a part of the company then, but I remember watching it on television," Kelly stated, and Eve nodded.

"Not to mention last year... Batista beat the crap out of Edge, and then Punk came out and cashed in. It's just the way things go with cashing in. They can do it whenever they want to do it," Eve said, and Maria sent her a nasty look, the older woman standing up and glaring at Eve, her hands on her hips.

"You're his manager. You should have done something!" Maria nearly shouted, and Eve arched a brow at her, fighting the urge to ask why in the hell she should have helped Jeff Hardy.

"What was I supposed to do?" Eve questioned instead. "Grab Punk by the arm and beg him not to do something that, as the winner of the contract, he had every right to do?"

"You should have interfered or something! Jeff had just won the title, and now it's ripped away from him! I could understand it if Edge had won and CM Punk had decided to cash in his title match then-"

"It's not about who he cashes in against; it's about the title itself. He wanted to be champion, and he saw a way for it to happen," Eve said. "It's the way it goes, Maria. Jeff will have a rematch-"

"He should be the champion now! If I were his manager, he would still be the champion!" Maria shouted, getting in Eve's face, and the brunette simply arched a brow at the other woman. Maria was one person that she was definitely not scared of.

"Well, then, maybe you should be the one managing him then," Eve said, then turned to look at Kelly. "I'm ready to go if you are," she said, and the blonde nodded.

"I'm ready," she said, grabbing her bags, Eve quickly doing the same, the two women leaving a fuming Maria alone in the locker room... Eve turning to look at the younger woman as they made their way down the hallway.

"I'm shocked that she isn't at Jeff's side telling him how unfair it is and fawning all over him," the brunette said, and Kelly snorted.

"I think she tried. Jeff said he wanted to be alone or something. Otherwise, she probably would have been yelling at you for that, too," the blonde said, then looked over at Eve with a smirk on her face. "I guess this means the victory party that Maria had planned won't be happening."

"Well, technically, he did win the title... He just lost it again five minutes later," Eve replied as they made their way through the hallways... Nearly empty hallways, which meant they didn't have to pretend to be overly dejected over what had happened to Jeff earlier that night.

"Somehow, I don't think Jeff will consider that much of a reason to celebrate," Kelly mused, and Eve rolled her eyes.

"Yeah and somehow, I think Jeff drowning his sorrows about losing the title will still have some of the same elements as him celebrating a title win. I mean, either way, he'll probably end up wasted tonight." She frowned. "Hopefully, he'll wait until he gets back to the hotel before he does whatever he does. I'm kind of past worrying about him, but... I don't want him hurting anyone else."

"Well, I stole the keys to his rental car during his match tonight just in case there was going to be excess celebrating, so you don't have to worry about that," Kelly declared, then shrugged and smiled when Eve sent an incredulous look her way. "What? It was the least I could do."

"Good thinking, too. I'm sure Maria will give him a ride back to the hotel, and we'll find a way to get the keys back to him. Maybe leave them at the front desk of the hotel tomorrow," the older of the two divas said as they made it out to the parking area, which was nearly deserted. The pay per view had ended awhile ago, and a lot of the talent had left pretty quickly after the main event. Mostly just those that had been out there for the main event... And a few like Kelly, who had stuck around because she and Eve had ridden together and Maria, who had apparently stuck around originally to congratulate Jeff and, when it turned out he wasn't leaving the show as the champion, she'd decided to spend her time yelling at Eve instead. Of course, just because most of the people in the company were gone, it didn't mean all of them were. In fact, Eve and Kelly weren't the only people that were currently in the parking garage.

CM Punk was there as well.

The man looked over as they stepped out, the new world heavyweight champion standing at the back of a car, in the process of slamming the trunk shut. Eve stopped short at the sight of him, the diva not at all sure what to say. Part of her wanted to approach him, to say congratulations or something, but the rest of her just wasn't sure if that was a good idea. The decision was made for her, however, when Kelly gave her a sharp shove in the back, pushing her forward a few steps... Eve sending an exasperated look her friend's way before she continued to walk over toward Punk. The man stood there silently as she made her way over, wearing jeans and a t-shirt and a baseball cap and looking nothing like a man that had won the world title just a half hour before. When she was just a couple of feet away from him, she stopped, meeting his eyes. He shrugged as he looked at her.

"I told you a couple of weeks ago... I'd choose my time and my place. I'd make him hurt. I'm not saying that getting my hands on the title isn't an awfully big perk for me, but... Tonight was the time, and it was the place," he told her. "It also gives me an excuse to beat the shit out of him repeatedly for a few weeks."

Eve frowned. "Excuse me?" she questioned, not sure what he meant, and Punk shrugged.

"He gets a rematch. He was, after all, the champion, even if it was only for five minutes," the man reminded her, smiling slightly. "I'm sure he'll want to call in the rematch clause as soon as possible, but I'm hoping to put it off for a few weeks. You know, so I can kick his ass a few more times between now and then and have the excuse of saying I wanted to soften him up for the rematch."

"Punk..."

"If you're going to tell me that I shouldn't have done it... Don't. It's done. I did it. I'm glad I did it. The confused look on his face when I walked out there with the briefcase in my hands was almost as good as the lost look on his face when I walked out of there with the title." He nodded in the direction of the doors to the arena. "You two should head out before someone else comes out and see you talking to me. I can think of a few people that wouldn't be too happy about that. Not to mention that some people would think you were in on it tonight... And we both know you weren't."

"Or," Kelly piped up, the blonde speaking for the first time since they'd run into CM Punk, "Eve can head out with you, and the two of you can talk some more."

Punk glanced at Eve, looking like he wanted to agree, then cleared his throat. "If someone sees us-"

"They won't. Not if you hurry. And if anyone asks... Eve was with me all night. Rode with me, roomed with me... And she'll be in the shower if anyone calls our room looking for her. So go," Kelly said, waving a hand at them, and while Eve wasn't entirely sure why the blonde was insisting that she should head off with Punk, she couldn't deny that she wanted to talk to him some more. They really hadn't spoken at all since he'd come to her hotel room to check on her the night after this whole mess had started.

The man looked at her. "Eve?" he questioned, and she knew he was asking if she actually wanted to talk to him, or if it was just Kelly being, well... Kelly. When she nodded her head, she could have sworn that he relaxed a bit. Quickly, he stepped forward, starting to take her things from her, but Kelly shook her head.

"I'll take her bag. That way she won't have to worry about it later. Now scoot. Before Maria comes out here and throws a fit," the blonde said, and Eve and Punk nodded, the man opening the passenger side door for her and Eve quickly climbing in... The brunette glancing back to see Kelly heading off toward their rental car, the blonde walking with a bit of a bounce in her step, obviously proud of herself for being able to send the two of them off together. Of course, Kelly had been bugging Eve to talk to Punk for the past two weeks, saying that Punk was obviously a better person to spend time with than Jeff was, so Eve supposed she shouldn't be surprised by the other woman's attitude. For his part, Punk appeared content to let the fact that Kelly obviously wanted them to spend time together slide, the man instead focusing on something else that the younger diva had said.

"So... Is Maria still giving you problems?" he asked as he put the car in drive, able to pull straight through the parking spots because the person that had been parked across from him had already left for the night. For a moment, Eve wondered why he would ask about Maria *still* giving her problems... But then she remembered that she'd told him that Maria had believed Jeff's version of events.

The diva gave a slight shrug. "If by problems you mean is she glaring at me like I'm unworthy to be in Jeff's presence whenever she gets the chance... Yeah. And she thinks you're a terrible, horrible human being for what you did tonight."

"Well, I'm just so sorry about that," Punk muttered, though Eve could still hear the sarcasm in his voice, not to mention see the smirk on his face. After a moment, however, he grew serious once more. "Would she tell on you?"

"What do you mean?"

"If she had seen us talking tonight... Or if she'd walked out and seen you get into my car or something... Would she tell Jeff Hardy?" he wanted to know, and while Eve wanted to deny that Maria would run and tattle on her to Jeff like they were children or something... She found that she couldn't deny it, because the truth was, Maria probably *would* do that.

"Probably. I'm pretty sure she hopes he'll get rid of me as his manager and pick her instead. Of course, she wants to be a lot more than just his manager," the diva said with a roll of her eyes, settling herself a bit deeper into the passenger seat of Punk's rental car.

"Well, there's no accounting for taste," CM Punk muttered, then frowned. "What would you do?"

"Excuse me?"

"If Jeff suddenly decided he didn't want you to be his manager?"

"I... I don't know. I'd like to wrestle. But the divas division on SmackDown seems to revolve around Michelle McCool and whoever she likes, so..." Eve shrugged. "If I started wrestling more, I'd probably get ganged up on. Kelly would team with me, but... I'm not sure anyone else would help me out. Especially if Jeff started spreading lies about me or something."

"And you don't want to be the villain."

"I didn't do anything wrong-"

"I'm not saying you did," Punk said. "Jeff's in the wrong. If you'd cost him the title tonight as retribution for the shit he pulled on you, then it would have been justified."

"In your mind, maybe."

"In mine... in Kelly's. And it should be justified in your mind, too. He'd deserve it." He shook his head, sighing. "I get that you're scared. You're scared of what would happen if he came after you. Or if he convinced other people to come after you."

"I just..." She shook her head, and Punk sighed again.

"It's okay. I don't mind being the one to go after him. I sure as hell don't mind being the villain of the piece-"

"You're not-"

"To everybody that saw that match tonight? Hell, yes, I am. Because they don't know why I did it. That there was something behind it besides the title. And I don't care. I don't care what those people think of me. I don't care what Jeff Hardy or his fans or the announcers and superstars and divas that kiss his ass and think he hung the moon think of me. I'm fine with being the bad guy. I can take it," he said, and Eve closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, then opening her eyes again and looking over at him.

"I wish I could be as strong as you. Strong enough to do what I should," she said quietly, and he shrugged, glancing over at her.

"You are. You just haven't figured it out yet."


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer, etc., in part 1.

* * *

Part Eleven

They'd been right, of course. The fans saw CM Punk as the bad guy in all of this. Never mind that they'd cheered their butts off when he'd cashed in on a vulnerable Edge the year before. This year, he'd cashed in on a vulnerable Jeff Hardy. Their hero. A hero that had, to the best of Eve's knowledge, spent the days after Extreme Rules drugged up on painkillers - and possibly a few other things. Yeah. A real hero. She could understand taking something for the pain after a ladder match. But Jeff didn't just take medication; he abused it. She knew it, and she hated the fact that she'd ignored it for too long. She hated the fact that everyone out there thought he could do no wrong. She hated that people made excuses for him.

"You okay?"

Eve looked over at Kelly, the blonde diva that she was sharing a hotel room with. One of her only friends in the company, especially now that Maria was siding with Jeff. The brunette shrugged. "I'm okay. I just... Tonight was..." She shook her head.

"Yeah. But hey... Even though you and Melina lost... at least you got a match tonight. And technically... Melina's the one that was pinned. If you stop managing Jeff... Maybe you really could wrestle more."

"I need more experience. Before I can think of becoming a full-time wrestler, I need more experience. And just turning on Jeff..." She wrapped her arms around herself, fighting back a shudder as she remembered the look she'd seen in his eyes a few weeks before, when she'd threatened to tell an official he was too high to compete. The way he'd slammed her against the wall and put his arm across her throat. The way he'd looked at her. She hadn't told anyone about that just yet. Not Kelly, not Punk... Definitely not Punk. The man didn't need another reason to get into it with Jeff. He had enough already.

"If he wants to keep being the hero in the eyes of the fans, then he wouldn't attack you-"

"Not in front of people. He already threw me out of a car, Kelly. Left me in the middle of nowhere. I can't be sure he won't try to find a way to get back at me if I just leave him... Especially if I don't have backup."

"CM Punk would back you up," Kelly said, watching Eve carefully as she spoke, frowning as the other woman stiffened slightly. "Why don't you want that? Why are scared of that? He helped you-"

"I know he did. I know he's been nothing but nice to me, and I know that he's taking the brunt of the fans' anger over this. He's willing to be the bad guy to get at Jeff. And I want to trust him, Kelly. I really do. But..."

"But what?"

"I trusted Jeff. Once upon a time. And look what he did to me. I mean, the way he's treated me... I knew Jeff Hardy had problems. I knew about the suspensions. I'd heard about why he'd left the company back in 2002. I knew all of that. But I thought he was past it... Or at least mostly. And I didn't think..." She shook her head, then looked over at Kelly. "I'm not so sure that it's that I don't trust CM Punk. I think it's that I don't trust myself."

"Eve... Punk is not Jeff Hardy," the blonde woman said, and the brunette heaved out a sigh, jerking her hands through her long hair.

"I know he isn't. But I don't trust myself. I don't trust my own judgment anymore. I want to trust myself... I want to trust him, but... I trusted Jeff, and that was a big screw up. A huge one. Obviously. I look at him, and it's like I don't even recognize him anymore. He's not who I thought he was... And then there's CM Punk. I don't know him, not really. Before all of this happened, I just... I'd interviewed him a few times, and I said hello to him whenever I saw him. He hasn't even been on the SmackDown roster all that long. And I know that he helped me out, and I know that part of the reason he went after Jeff when he did was because of me, but... It's still hard."

"I know. You know, he's still protecting you, even now," Kelly stated. "I mean... Tonight, on SmackDown, he could have told the truth about why he did what he did. He could have admitted it was partly because of you. Instead he just said that he was going to cash in on whoever won the ladder match because he knew that whoever won it would be an easy target." The blonde smiled slightly. "I did think it was a nice touch how he said Jeff only had himself to blame since Jeff's the one that chose the stipulation of the title match being a ladder match and all."

"Well, it's true. He did choose the stipulation-"

"I know. Of course, I think we both know that when Punk said it was Jeff's fault that he cashed in, it wasn't just because of the stipulation. The crowd doesn't know it, but you do," Kelly said, and Eve heaved out a sigh.

"Yeah. I'm just glad I didn't have to be out there for that bit tonight," she said, thinking about it. The show had opened with CM Punk talking about his win, the segment ending up being interrupted first by Jeff, then by Edge, both men demanding a rematch for the title. Instead of being out there with Jeff, however, Eve had been backstage, preparing for her match. Jeff had wanted her to go out there with him, but her tag team partner for the night Melina had put a stop to that by giving Hardy a glare and declaring in no uncertain terms that Eve was not going out there when he confronted Punk because the two divas had a match tonight and Jeff's confrontation of Punk was likely going to end up in a brawl that would have the potential of Eve getting hurt if she was out there. With that said, Melina had slammed the door to the divas' locker room in Jeff's face, then returned to Eve's side to talk strategy for their match. For her part, Eve had been glad to see Melina tell Jeff to more or less shove it, and she'd also been relieved not to be out there. The truth was, she wasn't sure how she was going to react to being out there as Jeff's manager when he faced Punk in a match. She was too shocked to really have much of a reaction at Extreme Rules, but now... Now, she'd be going out there at Jeff's side with the knowledge that he'd be trying to take the title from Punk. Of course, it wouldn't exactly be a one-on-one match. Edge and Jeff had fought in a number one contenders match in the main event on SmackDown, the match ending in a DQ thanks to Punk retaliating when Edge had basically thrown Jeff into him, and it had been declared by Teddy Long that there would be a triple threat for the title on Monday's special episode of RAW.

"Well, yeah, you're glad you didn't have to be out there tonight. Because you could have gotten hurt if you had been," Kelly stated, and Eve shook her head.

"It's not that. I mean... I wouldn't have wanted to end up in the middle of things and get hurt. Obviously. I just... I'm really not sure that I would have been able to act like I was supposed to. It might have been written all over my face how glad I was that CM Punk did what he did. I mean, I've been able to play the part of Jeff's manager the past couple of weeks. I've done it pretty well. But that's when he's been facing Edge and really... Edge is an ass. Everyone knows the only reason he got with Vickie Guerrero was as a way to keep the title. He's a creep and a user and I don't like him any more than I like Jeff. I mean, he's never pulled the crap that Jeff pulled, but maybe that's just because I've never gotten in a car with him. And you and I both know that Edge would have speared me if I'd ever gotten involved in anything. He's definitely not above attacking a woman. But Punk... It's a completely different thing. I *do* want him to beat Jeff. I want him to hold onto that world title. And I'm afraid it's going to be written all over my face."

"I can't really blame you if it is. Punk's the knight in shining armor in this one, whether anyone else knows it or not."

Eve smiled slightly at that. "Knight in shining armor? Really? Why is it that I think CM Punk wouldn't exactly love being called that?" the brunette wanted to know, and Kelly shrugged her shoulders.

"Beats me. But you're probably right. He doesn't seem the type to like that label... Even if it kind of fits him here." The blonde gave a small smile. "Tattooed knight in tarnished armor, maybe?"

Eve rolled her eyes. "Whatever. The point is... I don't know if I can act the part of Jeff's manager any longer. I don't know if I should care about it. Maybe I should just turn against him. Cost him a match. Something." She shook her head. "Maybe it's not worth it. This job."

"If you wrestle more, the fact that you're not managing anyone wouldn't hurt your job."

"But I'm still a beginner, Kelly. I've had some matches, mostly against Layla lately... But she only has a bit more experience than I do. I mean, she came is as a dancer-"

"As I well know," the blonde said, making a face at the reminder of the whole Extreme Expose thing... Even if Eve hadn't mentioned the group by name. She'd thought Brooke and Layla were her friends back then, but then there had been that thing with the Miz - she hated him and they didn't - and well... She hadn't been too sorry when Brooke left the company, and she didn't exactly like Layla anymore, either. But it was something that had lasted for awhile, meaning that despite the fact that Layla had won the diva search the year before Eve had, the British diva didn't have a great deal more experience in the ring than the Denver native. "But the fact that she started off in Extreme Expose and was once a member of the Miami Heat's dance team doesn't change the fact that you still beat her."

"Well, I used to be a member of the LA Clippers dance team, so I don't have room to talk about her on that one. But if I were to stop managing Jeff, I would need more than just a few wins against Layla to go on." The diva sighed. "And on top of that... I can't help but be nervous about the idea of Jeff attacking me if I do quit on him-"

"If he wants the fans to love him, he won't touch you. They'd turn against him if he attacked you," Kelly began, and Eve shook her head.

"Not true. He could paint me as an interfering bitch, they'd eat it up, and they'd cheer him when he did the Swanton on me. If a woman is perceived badly, then people cheer when she gets taken out, especially if it's by one of their supposed 'heroes'. Yeah. Violence against a woman makes a man really heroic."

"Punk wouldn't let Jeff hurt you-"

"And maybe I shouldn't have to rely on some guy to save me," Eve snapped back. "I hate this. I hate being made to feel weak, and right now I'm really pissed off at myself for letting it get to this point. Yeah, I'm scared of what will happen if I turn against Jeff, but... I should just say screw it and take the consequences. Stand up for myself instead of just being a weak little girl-"

"You think that's what this is? You being weak because you're a woman? Because this all started when Jeff Hardy got high, shoved you out of the car, and left you. That didn't happen just because you're a woman. He could have just as easily done it to someone else. His brother. One of his so-called friends. Anyone. He didn't shove you out of the car because you're a girl; he did it because he's an asshole. He could have done the same thing to... he could have done it to Punk if Punk had been the one in the car. Caught him by surprise, shoved him out, then drove off. Jeff's the one that should be ashamed about what happened. Not you. He's the bastard here," Kelly said, then heaved out a breath that sent her bangs into the air briefly.

Eve sighed. "You're right. He is the bastard." She shook her head. "I don't know why I care. You know, about what people think of me. I mean, they think that the sun shines out of Jeff's ass. Why should I care if they hate me?"

"Because everybody wants to be liked. Look, Eve... You're my friend. One of the only people in this company that doesn't make blonde jokes when they see me, and pretty much the only woman that doesn't like to repeatedly remind me of how I got my start here and how I don't belong," Kelly said quietly. "So the thing is, whatever you decide to do... I'm still going to be your friend. Got it?"

"Got it. And Kelly?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks. For listening to my crap and... for everything," Eve said, and the blonde girl smiled.

"That's what friends are for, right?"


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer, etc., in part 1... Welp... Got about one-fifth of this one posted so far... Thanks to those that have reviewed/favorited/followed this one.

* * *

Part Twelve

She was banned from ringside.

She'd been told it, but she didn't quite understand it. It didn't make sense. She didn't run around and interfere in matches, she just stood at ringside. This... She didn't understand this. There was no reason - no reason whatsoever - for her to be banned. Edge hadn't even gotten her banned from ringside back at Extreme Rules. And she knew Jeff wouldn't have her banned. He seemed to like the idea of her being out there when she didn't really want to be. He liked the idea of having some sort of power over her, over her job. It was becoming more and more obvious - to her, at least - that Matt wasn't the only Hardy brother that was a complete asshole that liked power over people.

Shaking her head, Eve stalked down the hallway, her high heels clacking loudly against the concrete floor, the woman knowing she was glaring daggers but figuring that people would know why once they learned she'd been banned from being out there for the triple threat match for the world heavyweight title at that night's special episode of RAW. Of course, people would probably figure that she was mad about not being able to be out there to cheer for Jeff, but that wasn't the case. That wasn't the case at all. Because in the days since SmackDown, she'd come to a decision.

She was going to turn on Jeff Hardy. And she couldn't freaking do that if she wasn't even allowed to be out there. And that was the thing. She wasn't allowed to even go out there on the stage. It wasn't fair, not at all, and since she didn't think Edge had demanded the stipulation, and she was pretty much certain that it hadn't been Jeff's idea, then that left pretty much just one person that would have done it.

CM Punk.

The man coming toward her right that very moment.

"Speak of the devil," she muttered, then mentally corrected herself that it was really more of a 'think of the devil' this time... But that didn't matter. What mattered was that he'd interfered and gotten her kicked out of ringside before she even had a chance to go out there tonight.

Letting her anger fuel her and not worrying about who saw them - the hallway was empty anyway - Eve grabbed Punk's arm as he started to walk past her, carefully not looking at her, the diva yanking open the nearest door and dragging him inside, only vaguely aware that she'd pulled him into a storage closet and not really caring. At least it had a damned light. She flicked it on quickly, then glared up at him in the dim light that the single bulb provided.

"Eve, what are you doing? We can't be seen together. It would screw things up for you," he hissed at her, keeping his voice low, and Eve reached out, shoving her hand against his shoulder, the move surprising him enough that he took a step back.

"Who do you think you are?" she demanded to know. "What gives you the right to get me banned from ringside tonight?"

He winced. "They told you about that."

"Of course they told me about that! They had to tell me I wasn't allowed to be out there," she snapped, and he shook his head.

"Yeah, but they didn't have to tell you it was me that-"

"They didn't," Eve told him, interrupting him before he could finish speaking. Since he could probably see the fury flashing in her eyes even in the dimly lit room, he didn't say anything about her cutting him off. "I figured it out myself by the process of elimination. Edge never worried about what I might do at ringside before, so why would he have me banned? And as for Jeff... He likes having me out there because it gives him the idea that he has some sort of power over me. So no, he wouldn't ask to have me banned. So that leaves you," she said, poking him in the chest as she finished speaking.

CM Punk was currently looking at her like she was some sort of wild animal that might attack him at any moment, and Eve couldn't help but wonder rather vaguely if that was the way he looked at any woman that got pissed off at him, or if he was just looking at her that way because he'd never seen her angry. He'd seen her out of it, he'd seen her upset and moved to tears, but he'd never seen her full-on ticked off, which was what she was right now. "Eve, I didn't mean-"

"Who are you to go and do that? To have me forced to stay backstage? You had me banned from ringside!"

"I thought you would want me to!" he shot back at her, throwing his arms up and shaking his head. "I just... After everything, I thought you wanted to be away from him. I thought the last thing you would want would to be out there tonight!"

"Well, it's not. Which is just proof that you don't know me very well at all. Certainly not well enough to make decisions for me, which is essentially what you did by getting me banned from ringside. I'm not even allowed to walk out there on the stage. I have to stay in the back, and it was suggested that I stay in the divas' locker room. The officials didn't pat me on the head and add 'like a good little girl', but they may as well have."

"I just wanted to help you," he said, his voice quiet, the man glancing at the door as he spoke, and Eve quickly realized that she needed to keep her voice down, too, or else there was the possibility that someone walking down the hallway would hear them talking and maybe even run to Jeff... Jeff would probably figure that she and Punk were plotting against him, which really didn't make sense because Punk was the one that had gotten her banned from ringside, but somehow she doubted that bit of information would prevent Jeff from accusing her of plotting against him. Of course, in all honesty, she *had* been plotting against him for tonight but, unfortunately, her plans had been thwarted by the simple fact that she wouldn't be out there to cause Jeff to lose the match. Because the man in front of her had taken it upon himself to make sure she wouldn't even be out there in the first place.

"Well, you didn't help me. This is not what I wanted," Eve spat at him, fighting the urge to stomp her foot in anger. "I wanted to be out there."

"Why? Do you suddenly think the sun shines out of Jeff Hardy's ass again or something, because after what happened a few weeks ago, I'd have thought you would be too smart for-" He broke off when Eve's hand came up, the woman slapping him across the face, then stepping back, her eyes wide with shock at what she'd done. The diva didn't rush to make an apology, though, instead looking him in the eye.

"Don't ever say that about me again, because I am not fooled by Jeff Hardy. Not now, not ever again. I had my reasons for wanting to be out there tonight, but that doesn't matter anymore, does it? Because I'm not allowed out there, and it's all your fault."

Punk reached up to rub at the cheek that she'd slapped. To his credit, he didn't really act angry over the fact that she'd hit him, and she wouldn't have been able to blame him if he'd been pissed at her for that little stunt. She knew that she shouldn't have slapped him, but she'd been mad, and he'd been the only thing there she could hit besides maybe the wall and it would have hurt to hit the wall. Of course, her hand stung a bit from the contact of her palm against his face anyway.

"I thought I was doing what was best," he finally said, his voice quiet. "I don't trust Hardy or Edge. Edge is a bastard who will do whatever it takes. To be honest, I'm surprised he's never attacked you out there before. And while everyone else thinks that Hardy cares about your well-being, I know he doesn't. We both know he doesn't. I'm the only one out there that would care about what happened to you. I can't be sure that Edge wouldn't spear you. I can't be sure that Jeff Hardy wouldn't 'accidentally' take you out just to get more sympathy for himself. He'd act guilty, and people would feel bad for him. And finally... I couldn't guarantee that, if something happened on the outside, if I went for them... I couldn't guarantee they wouldn't use you as a shield. What if I was throwing myself to the outside of the ring to hit one of them, and they pulled out in front of them and I couldn't stop myself? I don't want to hurt you, Eve," he told her, pausing for a moment, a somewhat cynical smile just touching his lips as he shook his head. "Of course, it seems I did that anyway. By doing what I've done. Because now you hate me-"

"I don't hate you," Eve muttered, the diva wrapping her arms around herself as she stood there. Standing there and listening to his reasons for what he'd done made her feel even worse about slapping him, but she still didn't apologize for it, and she still didn't necessarily agree with what he'd done. Especially since he'd gone behind her back to do it. "I'm still mad, though. You should have told me what you were going to do. It wasn't fair to have this just thrown at me. I don't want... This is my life, and it's my career, and I don't want someone that just looks after me. I don't want to spend my career as the weak little girl that has to be taken care of."

"Eve, I don't think-"

"Yes, you do. If you didn't, if you actually thought I could handle myself at all, you wouldn't have done that." She shook her head, turning to leave the storage closet they were in, stopping and stiffening when she sensed Punk's hands getting close to her shoulders. To his credit, he didn't actually touch her, instead letting his arms fall back to his side.

"I didn't mean to hurt you, Eve. Or to imply... I'm sorry. And I really don't want you to hate me for what I did."

"I don't hate you. I'm angry, but I don't... Good luck tonight. I want you to win. I wanted to be out there when you won, but... I guess not." She took a deep breath. "And just so you know... I planned to turn against Jeff tonight, but since I'm not allowed out there at all... I guess I can't."

And with that, Eve pulled open the door, carefully glancing each way before stepping out... and then she was gone.


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer, etc., in part 1.

* * *

Part Thirteen

CM Punk was still the world heavyweight champion.

The triple threat match had been a pretty tough one, all three men wanting to get their hands on that title - or, in the case of Punk, *keep* his hands on the title - and it had very nearly gone the other way. Would have if Punk hadn't pulled Jeff off the pin when Hardy had gotten the Swanton Bomb on Edge. Punk had just dragged Jeff out of the ring, then pinned Edge himself, and some small part of Eve had wondered if he'd let that happen on purpose. If he'd been hoping for a moment like that... Jeff thinking he had the title back, that he had the win... Only to have it yanked away again by someone else stealing the pin. Maybe it hadn't been the plan, but odds were that Punk probably rather liked the idea of it anyway. Of course, he probably didn't like the idea that he'd have to face Jeff again one-on-one at the upcoming 'The Bash' pay per view. Or maybe he did like the idea... He had, after all, told her not so very long ago that he hoped to put off the rematch for a few weeks so he could soften Jeff up by repeatedly kicking his ass. Maybe that still held true... Even after she'd yelled at him and slapped him tonight. Maybe Punk still wanted to get a few more hits in on her behalf.

She couldn't deny that the idea of Punk beating up on Jeff sort of appealed to her. But what really appealed to her was the idea that, at some point, maybe she'd get to go after Jeff herself. Sure, she knew that she didn't have enough wrestling experience to do much damage to him. But she knew well enough that a hard kick between the legs would hurt any man... Even Jeff Hardy. And if that was the best she could do to him at this point? Then that's what she would do. Eventually. If she found the right time and place.

"This is all your fault!"

Eve Torres looked up at the sound of the voice, unsurprised to find Maria standing there in front of her. Maria Kanellis, one of the people that thought Jeff Hardy could do no wrong. She wondered what Maria would say if she knew what Jeff had done to Eve, then decided she didn't want to know. Because the sad thing was, even if Maria did know about everything, Eve couldn't say with any level of certainty that Maria would side with her. Maria was the type to excuse anything Jeff did and Eve had the oddest feeling that, since CM Punk had shown up and rescued her, Maria would somehow file this into the 'no harm, no foul' category.

"I'm back here in the locker room, Maria. How is Jeff losing my fault when I'm not even out there?" Eve asked, keeping her voice even despite the fact that she wanted to yell at the woman she'd once considered her friend. She'd figured out the truth now, though. Maria had only tolerated her because she was Jeff's manager. And now that Jeff had shown some displeasure with her - the lies he'd told about her messing up his rental car then ditching her, the lies he'd told to cover what had really happened, the things had he had done - well... Maria was done pretending to like her. Eve couldn't say she really cared. At least she knew now who her real friends were. And it seemed the only friends she had were Kelly and CM Punk. And she'd made the mistake of slapping one of them earlier tonight. Not exactly her best moment, even if he hadn't seemed too angry with her about it.

Maria glared at Eve, her hands on her hips. "How is it your fault? That's easy. It's your fault because you weren't out there to stop Punk from cheating his way to a win!" the older diva said, and it was actually Melina that responded, the dark-haired woman having apparently been paying attention to the argument - or whatever it was - that was occurring in the divas' locker room at the moment.

"Actually, from what I can tell, CM Punk didn't cheat. It was a triple threat. He just took the pin. Anyone would have done it, especially if it meant a successful title defense," Melina stated, then gave a sly smirk. "Not that you would know anything about title defenses, seeing as you've never even won a title before." Her smile widened. "And I'd put money on Eve winning a title before you ever do."

Maria's glare turned toward Melina for a moment. "This has nothing to do with you. So butt out," she said, then turned her attention to Eve again, actually stomping her foot in annoyance when she realized that the brunette was a not-so-captive audience... In fact, Eve wasn't really an audience for Maria anymore at all, since the younger woman had gotten to her feet, grabbed her things, and headed for the door. "Where the hell do you think you're going?"

"Somewhere that you're not. I'm too old for a lecture, Maria," the diva said as she stepped through the door, not at all surprised when Maria stomped after her. The woman was not to be deterred.

"Listen, you ungrateful little twerp, you should have been out there-"

"I was banned from ringside!" Eve spat out, whirling around to face the other woman, well aware that they were close to the catering area, which meant that their argument was likely to be overheard, but not really caring at the moment. If Maria wanted to have this out, then fine. "How the hell was I supposed to do anything when going out there at all would have gotten him disqualified?" She sneered when Maria stood there blinking almost stupidly, the other woman clearly trying to figure out what to say to that. Eve arched a brow at her. "Oh, wait, let me guess... You didn't really think that one through, did you? You just wanted someone to blame, someone to yell at, and you decided to pick on me. Well, screw that, Maria. And also? Screw you."

With that, the brunette spun on her heel and started to stalk off, swearing when Maria crashed into her from behind, clearly attempting something like a tackle or even a spear, but really only doing enough damage to send Eve stumbling instead of knocking her to the ground. Annoyed with both Maria for starting this and herself for not being able to walk away, Eve quickly spun around and slapped the other woman, sending her reeling backwards, though Eve wasn't sure if it was because of the force of the blow or sheer surprise that she had retaliated.

"You do not want to pick a fight with me, Maria," she warned in a low voice. "You won't like the way it turns out."

Maria arched a brow at her. "You really think you can take me?"

"I'm sure of it," Eve tossed back, the brunette quickly ducking when Maria went to attack her again. While Eve hadn't been with the WWE nearly as long as Maria had - less than two years compared with Maria's nearly five - she made up for her lack of experience in the ring with the fact that she actually studied Brazilian Jujitsu in her spare time, and she'd also done so much self-defense that she'd ended up taking and passing the class to be an instructor. She was good at evasion and pretty damn good with kicks, too... Unfortunately, she was also wearing high heels at the moment, which hindered her balance a bit, especially in an actual fight, which meant that when Maria lunged at her and literally tackled her, the two of them went down like a ton of bricks. The good news was, Maria didn't seem to have a clue how to attack her once she'd knocked her down, so Eve was easily able to get the leverage to flip them over, the brunette now pissed off enough that instead of just getting up and telling Maria to go to hell, she actually went on the offensive, slamming the other woman's head against the floor, then drawing back to actually hit her again... But she never got the chance to do that because a hand fisted in her hair and yanked her to her feet, then jerked her toward the wall, which she slammed into back-first. Hard.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Jeff Hardy yelled at her, reaching out to shove her back against the wall again when she went to take a step away from it. "Answer me when I talk to you-"

"Hey! That's enough!" another voice declared, and Eve jerked in surprise when another body came to stand in front of her, getting between her and Jeff. She felt another wave of surprise when she realized who it was that had intervened, because it wasn't CM Punk. It was John Cena.

"This has nothing to do with you. It's none of your business," Jeff stated, and Cena snorted.

"I'm making it my business. You wanna break up a fight, you wrap your arms around her waist and lift her off. You don't yank her up by the hair and slam her into the fucking wall," Cena snarled, and Jeff glared at the man... Though Eve really felt that the glare was meant for her.

"She shouldn't have attacked Maria-"

"She didn't," Melina Perez said as she stepped closer, the dark-haired diva giving Jeff Hardy a look of great distaste. "Maria attempted to pick a fight in the locker room, and when Eve decided to be an adult about it and just walk away, Maria then proceeded to follow her and attack her. From behind. Eve just defended herself. Rather well, actually."

Jeff glanced around them, perhaps realizing for the first time that he'd just done something that people wouldn't approve of. Something that people would think less of him for. Squaring his shoulders, he glared at Melina. "Well, that's not what it looked like."

"I don't give a damn what it looked like. You don't yank a woman around by her hair to break up a fight. And besides that, Eve's *your* manager, man. You think you'd give her the benefit of the doubt," Cena said, shaking his head, then turning to look at Eve, meeting her eyes. "You okay?"

She squared her shoulders and lifted her chin, the woman refusing to show how she really felt about the situation. Refusing to show just how much she felt like crying at the moment. "I'm fine," she told him, her voice far more confident than she felt at the moment. She was proud of herself for keeping her voice from shaking. She wasn't so sure that she could keep her hands from shaking at the moment, so she held them down at her sides, clenching them into fists. Not wanting to look at the concern on Cena's face or the contempt on Jeff's, Eve glanced around, fighting the urge to cringe at the crowd that had gathered, her gaze going quickly to where CM Punk stood, and she could see the fury in his eyes. The anger over what had happened. And from the way she saw him looking down at her hands, she knew that he realized that she was more upset than she was letting others know. That he knew her hands were fisted to keep them from shaking.

Cena shifted his weight as he looked at her. "You sure you're okay? You hit the wall pretty hard-"

"She's fine," Maria spat out, the diva awkwardly getting to her feet, Eve fighting not to roll her eyes at the way the older woman leaned against Jeff as he went to help her up.

"I didn't ask you; I asked her," Cena replied, his eyes on Jeff as he stepped to the side so that he was no longer in front of Eve. The look on his face made it clear that he didn't really trust Jeff not to lunge at her again, and despite the situation, Eve was kind of glad to see it. She was glad to see that there was someone else that maybe didn't buy all of Jeff Hardy's bullshit any longer.

"I'm okay. I just want to get the hell out of here," Eve replied, and Jeff arched a brow at her.

"Well, I'm not leaving yet."

"And from what I remember, she didn't ride with you," Melina put in. "She pulled up around the same time that I did, and I'm pretty sure that it was Kelly that was in the passenger seat. On top of that, Eve doesn't have a match tonight, so I'm guessing Teddy Long wouldn't have a problem with her taking off. In fact, if she wants to head out and Kelly can't or something... I'd be glad to give Kelly a ride back to the hotel. No problem. No worries."

"That would actually be really nice, Melina. I should probably go and check with Teddy-"

"No need to, actually," Kelly's voice piped up, the blonde woman coming down the hallway with her own bags, stopping once she got next to Eve. She started to bend down to gather the bags of Eve's that had ended up on the floor when Maria had attacked her, but Cena got there first, quickly gathering Eve's things for her, though he didn't hand them over just yet. Kelly arched a brow at that, then looked to Eve and continued talking. "I went and checked with Mr. Long, and we're cleared to go, so... Let's go."

"I'll walk you to your car," Cena said, and Eve shook her head.

"That's not necessary-"

"Don't argue. Just let me try and be a gentleman. No big deal to carry your stuff for you," he told her, and Eve nodded slightly, unable to keep herself from glancing at Punk at that, but his expression was unreadable.

"Okay then. Thanks," Eve said, allowing Cena and Kelly to lead the way toward the parking garage, knowing that neither Maria or Jeff would attack her now, not with an audience and the clear disapproval of a guy like John Cena... The diva very aware of the crowd dispersing behind them now that the excitement was over... And equally aware that someone still remained standing there, watching her as she went. She didn't need to glance over her shoulder to see who it was, but she did anyway, and it was exactly who she expected it to be.

CM Punk.


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer, etc., in part 1.

* * *

Part Fourteen

Her back and shoulders hurt worse than she'd let anyone know, and her head still ached from the way Jeff had grabbed her by the hair to yank her to her feet.

Taking a deep breath, Eve dropped her face into her hands, the diva sitting quietly on the end of her bed. She'd taken a shower after she and Kelly had gotten back to the hotel... Well, she'd taken one after managing to convince the younger diva that she was okay to be alone. The blonde had offered to hang out as long as she'd needed, but Eve had managed to convince her she was fine. And then, once Kelly had left, she'd gone and taken a shower, pretending even to herself that the water on her face was all from the shower and not from her own tears. She'd almost had herself convinced until she'd let out a sob. In the end, Eve had indulged in a good cry, telling herself that she needed one, and telling herself that it didn't really count if no one else was around to see it. In fact, if she wanted to, it would be perfectly fine to cry right now. As long as she wanted to.

Well, she could if she ignored the knock that had just sounded on her door.

Frowning, Eve rose to her feet, a quick glance toward the nightstand telling her that it was after midnight. The show was long since over now, everyone probably getting back to their hotel rooms - or already there - which meant that, if someone was at the door, it could be any number of people. Of course, the person was knocking rather gently rather than pounding on the door or yelling in an attempt to get her attention, which told Eve that it most likely wasn't Maria or Jeff. Thank goodness. She'd just ignore the knock if it was them, of course, but it was better all around if the two of them just left her alone. It could be Kelly, she knew. The blonde had actually called to check on her earlier, and Eve wouldn't put it past her to stop by. It could even be Melina, since the dark-haired diva had actually stood up for her earlier and even texted to make sure she was okay. It could be any number of people, really. But despite all of that, despite all of the people Eve tried to tell herself it could be, she wasn't the least bit surprised by who it was that stood outside her hotel room door, because she'd known deep down that it would be him.

Quickly, she unhooked the chain, then unlocked the deadbolt before opening the door, offering what she knew wasn't going to pass as a very convincing smile. "Hey."

CM Punk nodded in response, flicking a look around as if to make sure no one was coming... Something she supposed she should be doing. It wouldn't be good if the fact that she'd been hanging around with Punk at all over the past month somehow got out. "Can I come in?" he asked, his voice low, and Eve nodded, quickly stepping back and holding the door open wider to let him inside the room. The man stepped inside quickly, glancing around once last time as he did so to make sure no one was seeing them together... Eve closed the door behind him, going through the motions of locking the deadbolt and the chain without even thinking about what she was doing, then turning to look at the man behind her, watching as he tugged the hood from his sweatshirt back, then jerked a hand through his messy dark hair.

"Sorry for just showing up like this," he said, and Eve shook her head.

"Don't be. I wasn't asleep or anything."

Punk nodded, shoving his hands in his pockets as he looked at her. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay. After tonight," he told her, and Eve shrugged, the diva having to fight the urge to cringe as she did so. Yeah, her shoulder was definitely not feeling good at the moment.

"I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because Maria acted like a bitch and attacked you from behind... and then Jeff Hardy did the same thing," Punk replied, then sighed. "Sorry I didn't get there in time."

"It's not your fault. And it probably would have looked bad if you'd helped me," Eve said quietly. "I'm okay anyway. I was kind of surprised when the person that helped me *wasn't* you, though. Not that I..." She shook her head. "I just didn't think John Cena of all people would step in."

"Well, the guy does like to play the hero. Which, in this case, I'm glad. Jeff had no business putting his hands on you."

"It might be a good thing," Eve told him, shaking her head when he opened his mouth to protest that comment. "Think about it. People in the back saw what he did. Maybe now some people will understand when I turn against him. More than you and Kelly, anyway."

"You still plan to do that?"

"After tonight? Why wouldn't I?" she asked, turning away from him for a moment to go and grab a bottle of water from the mini-fridge in the hotel room. She glanced over her shoulder at Punk as she knelt down. "You want one?" she questioned, holding up the water, then frowning at the look on his face. "Punk? You want some water?"

The man shook himself slightly, looking at the bottles in her hand, then nodding. "Yeah, thanks," he said, watching as she shut the refrigerator and taking the bottle of water that she offered him. He opened the bottle and took a drink of water, his expression oddly fierce, and Eve frowned again, the diva looking a bit confused.

"What is it? What did I do?"

"It's not what you did. It's what he did," Punk said, eyeing the confused look on Eve's face, then heaving out a sigh and putting down the bottle of water before reaching out for Eve, taking her carefully by the arm and pulling her toward the mirror in the room. He positioned her so that her back was to the mirror, then pulled her hair out of the way. "Look at your shoulder," he told her, and Eve frowned, then turned her head so that she could see the reflection of her back in the mirror, the diva instantly able to see what it was that had caught Punk's attention. Because she was dressed for bed at the moment in a tank top and shorts, more of her back and shoulders were visible than usual, making it easy to see the bruise that had formed on her left shoulder.

She blinked at the sight of it. Eve had known she was sore, but not that she had a bruise from what had happened earlier. "Oh."

"Yeah. Oh." He gestured toward her bed. "Go sit down. Do you have any ice?"

The diva pointed toward the hotel-provided ice bucket. She'd gone and filled it earlier, and she'd meant to put the ice in the mini-fridge, but had somehow managed to get distracted and forget it. CM Punk's gaze followed to where Eve was pointing, and he nodded slightly, going into the bathroom to grab a hand towel before going over to where she'd left the ice. He quickly put some into the towel, twisting up the ends of the towel to keep the ice from falling out, then made his way over to where Eve sat. When she reached for the makeshift ice pack that Punk had just made for her, he shook his head, gesturing for her to turn a bit, which she did, blinking in surprise when he sat down on the bed as well, carefully shifting the strap of her tank top to the side before putting the towel filled with ice against her aching shoulder. The ice had already started melting a bit thanks to the fact that she'd left it sitting out, which meant the towel was already a bit wet.

"Anything the towel touches will end up wet, but it's the best I can do for now," Punk told her, and Eve sighed.

"It's not a big deal. It's just a bruise-"

"That Jeff Hardy put on you."

"I know. And I'm not excusing what he did. He acted like an ass. I didn't deserve to be flung around like a damned rag doll."

"No, you didn't. And I'm not the only one that agrees with you there. I'm not much of a John Cena fan, but I've got to say... He looked ready to rip Hardy's head off earlier. Can't say I'm opposed to that happening. I'd just rather do it myself," Punk said, still holding the makeshift ice pack to Eve's shoulder with one hand... The other hand coming up as well, his fingers gently moving over the skin of her back that was left exposed by her tank top. "Any other really sore spots?" he questioned, fingers still sliding over her skin, and Eve had to fight the urge to shiver at his touch, which was silly, really. He wasn't even *doing* anything. He was just trying to figure out if she was hurt.

"I'm okay. I hadn't even realized that I had a bruise," she said, pausing for a moment, then looking back over her shoulder at him, momentarily surprised by just how close he was... Which was stupid. She'd known full well that he was sitting right behind her. Obviously he would be close. She just hadn't actually expected him to be quite that close to her, their faces only inches apart. And it wouldn't have gotten her so much if he hadn't been looking at her face, but when she'd turned her head he'd raised his eyes from her shoulder and now her gaze was locked with his, and... Eve swallowed hard, offering him a small smile. "You're the one that had the match tonight, not me. Shouldn't I be asking if you're okay?"

"Yeah, but I expected to have a match tonight. I expected the bumps and bruises. You... You didn't have a match, and you were attacked backstage. First by Maria, then by Jeff."

"Most people aren't going to consider what Jeff did to me to be an actual attack," the diva mused, shaking her head slightly. "A lapse in judgment perhaps."

"Eve-"

"I'm just telling you how others are going to look at it, and you know it. Yes, Cena was angry about it. Yes, Melina stood up for me. But how many people are going to look at it as more than an isolated incident?" she asked, and CM Punk sighed.

"I guess I see what you're saying. But still... Now that they've seen that incident, they may look a little closer at how he treats you. And if he has any brains left in his head - any that the drugs haven't forever screwed up - then maybe he'll be smart enough to realize that he'd better be careful how he treats you. People may notice if he acts like a jerk, at least in public. In private, though-"

"I'm never around him in private. Not anymore," Eve told him. "I go to shows with Kelly. At the shows, I hang out in the divas' locker room instead of staying in his locker room."

Punk shook his head. "And no one's bothered to ask you why. Why you don't want to spend any time with the man you manage," he muttered, and Eve shrugged her shoulders, wincing slightly at the pull of the sore muscles. CM Punk frowned at her reaction. "How sore are you really?"

"It's not that bad. I just kind of wasn't thinking about it being there," she told him, flicking a look at him again, once more meeting his eyes... But this time, for some reason, she couldn't think of something to say to break to silence, and she couldn't look away, either, her eyes locked on his, the diva knowing that her expression was probably a bit uncertain while his... His was intense. Very intense, and as he looked at her, his face was getting closer and then...

Then he was kissing her.

The position wasn't the most comfortable since he was sitting behind her and she was looking back over her shoulder at him, but she didn't pull away from him, didn't break the kiss, instead twisting slightly, trying to make the position less of a - literal - pain in the neck as she kissed him back, the diva not at all sure what had prompted him to kiss her but not about to question it. Not about to push him away. She felt his hand move up into her hair, then back down, fingers grazing the side of her neck, running down her shoulder, then her arm, the slight touch causing her to shiver slightly... Her eyes slipping open as he broke the kiss, though his face was still near hers, so close she could feel his breath as he looked into her eyes. Without thinking, she licked her lips, his gaze moving to her mouth and, for a moment, she thought he was going to kiss her again... And she was pretty sure that she wouldn't mind it if he did. He didn't, though, instead shifting back from her, the look on his face telling her that he was reluctant to do so.

"I didn't come here planning that," he said quietly, dragging his gaze from her mouth to instead look her in the eyes. "Just so you know. I... I really just came to check on you. I didn't..."

Her gaze dropped, the diva taking a deep breath before turning away from him. "Are you trying to tell me that was a mistake?" she wanted to know, not wanting to look at him as she asked the question because she didn't want him to see the hurt on her face if he said yes.

"It was only a mistake if it messes up things between us," CM Punk said quietly, and Eve frowned as she turned to face him, this time moving her entire body instead of just looking back over her shoulder at him.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean... I want you to trust me. And if that... If you think that I'm trying to take advantage of you or-"

"You kissed me. You didn't... You didn't do anything wrong," she replied, then looked at him, meeting his eyes. "I didn't push you away. I kissed you back."

That drew a slight smile from the world heavyweight champion. "I guess you're right about that. And here I thought you were mad at me," he said, and Eve winced at that, the diva lifting her hand to run her fingers over his face, touching his cheek where she'd slapped him earlier.

"I'm sorry. For hitting you earlier. It was uncalled for-"

"You were mad. I get that. And I should have warned you about what I planned to do. I just... I wanted to protect you, and um... I didn't stop to think about how you would feel about that. About me just taking over and not letting you make the decision." He shook his head. "It wasn't fair. At the very least, I should have warned you... And then you could have told me what you had planned. If I'd known you were planning to turn against him tonight..."

"I wasn't even sure how I was going to do it. If I'd get him disqualified or 'accidentally' hit him with something or..." She shook her head. "I just... I wanted to do it. And I will. Pick the right time, the right place. Maybe enjoy watching you beat him up for a few more weeks."

"Eve-"

"I figure if you're out there, I'm less likely to get hurt," she told him, and he frowned slightly, his gaze moving to her shoulder.

"He shouldn't have touched you tonight."

"But he did. And people stood up for me. Plus, I'm okay. I can deal. I'm glad you came to check on me, though," Eve said, the diva eyeing him for a moment, before leaning forward and pressing her lips against his, keeping the kiss short and sweet. He gave her a slight smile as they broke apart.

"I'm glad I came, too. But I better go. The more time we spend together..."

"The more of a chance someone sees us," she finished, and Punk nodded.

"Yeah... And that would kind of ruin the surprise when you finally turn against Jeff," he said, then gave her a smile. "And I've got to admit, I'm looking forward to the look on his face when that happens," Punk told her, and Eve couldn't help but smile as well.

"So am I."


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer, etc., in part 1.

* * *

Part Fifteen

Eve heaved out a sigh as she fiddled with the radio in the rental car, she and Kelly on their way to an appearance at a local military base. Since the blonde had won the coin toss, Kelly was the one driving, and Eve was trying her best not to look over at the speedometer; Kelly was known for considering the speed limit more of a 'suggestion' than anything else... A suggestion she generally ignored. On top of that, the young blonde had been talking trash about Jeff Hardy for the entire drive - not that Eve really minded that - but the mood it put Kelly in just made the girl that much more of an aggressive driver. The truth was, if Eve didn't have other things currently on her mind, she'd probably be cowering in the front seat with her hands over her eyes. Instead, she sat there quietly, three words spinning around and around in her mind until-

"He kissed me."

The words just sort of came out, and Kelly jerked the wheel slightly at the sound of the other woman's voice, her eyes wide as she looked over at Eve for just a bit too long before realizing that it was really a good idea to keep her eyes on the road since she was the one driving and all.

"What?!" Kelly practically screeched, the volume of her voice just a bit too loud - and the pitch a bit too high - for the close confines of their rental car. "Jeff Hardy did *what*?!"

Eve made a face. "Jeff Hardy? I never said-"

"That's who we've been talking about for the past... However long we've been in the car," Kelly said, frowning slightly as she flicked a look at the clock in the car, the diva seeming to realize for the first time just how very long she'd been going on about what had happened the night before and how much of a jerk Jeff was. Though to be fair, really, it wasn't *entirely* about Jeff. She'd talked trash about Maria a bit, too... Though she usually went quickly back to Jeff. It was like she was on some sort of a loop or something. And while Eve didn't mind too much since it meant she didn't have to have anything to input into the conversation, it did get a bit old after awhile.

"Yeah, well... I kind of, sort of tuned it out a little bit after the first fifteen minutes or so. Sorry. Got other stuff on my mind."

"Well, obviously, since you just announced that someone kissed you!" Kelly sputtered, and Eve had the feeling that if they weren't on a tight schedule to get to the army base, then Kelly would be looking for some sort of little place to sit down and eat so they could have an actual gossip session about it or something. And Eve wasn't quite ready for that. In fact, she wasn't quite sure why she'd even mentioned the kissing at all, and now that she had, she knew she had to tell Kelly who it was that had kissed her. Not that Kelly would need many guesses to figure it out or anything. Maybe one guess. "Was it Cena? 'Cause he was totally protective of you last night."

Or maybe Kelly wouldn't get it on the first guess after all.

Eve shook her head, fighting the urge to roll her eyes. She adored Kelly, she really did - she was currently the only diva in the company that Eve trusted - but the girl didn't always quite, well, get it. "No, Kelly, it wasn't Cena."

"Well, who else was around last night? John walked us to the rental car-"

"Which means you would have seen it if he'd kissed me," Eve reminded the younger girl. "Also, since I barely know the guy? I would have pushed him away really quickly if he'd tried it. But no, he's not the one that kissed me."

Kelly smiled. "Ooh... Does this mean you didn't push away the mysterious guy that kissed you? Inquiring minds want to know. Those same inquiring minds also want to know who, exactly, planted one on you. So do tell."

"He didn't 'plant one on me'. He just kissed me. And yes, I kissed him back. And since you seem to have forgotten the one guy in all the company that actually knows what Jeff Hardy's really done-"

"Punk? CM Punk kissed you? No way. When?" Kelly wanted to know, her eyes wide, and Eve could have sworn the younger diva was actually bouncing in her seat. Seriously, for someone that dressed so sexy and actually got her start in the WWE as a freaking exhibitionist, she could definitely act weirdly childlike at times. "Oh, my gosh. I can't believe it. He's cute. He really is. I mean, I had a total crush on him way back when I started with ECW and he was there and-"

"Yeah, Kelly, I know. The whole world knew you had a crush on CM Punk because you didn't make a secret of it," Eve reminded the younger woman, and Kelly wrinkled up her nose.

"You're probably right."

"I'm definitely right."

"Whatever. The point is... He really is good-looking, in a not usual sort of way. And I did have a crush on him. He really helped me out a couple of times, but... He always just kind of treated me like a kid sister, which at the time sucked, but I'm okay with it now." Kelly paused. "Obviously he doesn't think of you as a kid sister if he made a move on you," the blonde said, unable to keep the smile off her face because, really, she was way over her old crush on the guy and Eve totally deserved some smoochies with a hottie after what she'd been through.

Eve rolled her eyes. "He didn't make a move on me. He kissed me. Once. And I might have kissed him, so it was technically two kisses, but when I kissed him it lasted like two seconds, so it doesn't really count," the brunette said, and Kelly glanced over to give her a rather disbelieving look.

"Sure. Whatever you say. Where did he kiss you?"

Eve arched a brow. "On the lips. Where else would he kiss me?"

"Well, there are plenty of places, but that's not what I meant. I figured lips since hello, you two don't know each other well enough for him to be kissing other places just yet-"

"Okay, Kelly, mind out of the gutter."

"Oh, please. Whatever. So... Where did he kiss you? As in, geographical location... In a car, in a locker room-"

"In my hotel room."

"Oh, really? Hmm... And were you standing up or laying down when this kiss occurred?" Kelly asked next, and Eve had to fight the urge to reach out and slap the younger woman's arm... Only able to convince herself to hold back from doing so because Kelly was the one driving at the moment.

"Are you seriously asking me that? Gutterface," the brunette muttered, shaking her head. "It was a kiss. He didn't do anything but kiss me. Geez. We were sitting down. He was checking out the bruise on my shoulder - he saw it because I was wearing a tank top - and then we were talking and then he kissed me and dear Lord, I'm never telling you anything ever again."

Kelly frowned, though it wasn't because of Eve's declaration that she wasn't telling her anything ever again. No, something else had caught her attention. "Wait a minute. Did you say bruise? You have a bruise?"

Eve heaved out a sigh, trying not to flinch. She really hadn't meant to tell Kelly that. Of course, if the younger girl saw her in the locker room on Friday at SmackDown, then she'd probably see it anyway, but that would have given Eve a few days of reprieve before she'd had to admit anything. And instead... Well, she'd opened her big mouth and actually told her. "Yes, I have a bruise. It's from last night. Obviously. I guess my shoulder hit the wall pretty hard-"

"Yeah, when Jeff Hardy threw you into it," Kelly sneered, all laughter and happiness forgotten as she went back to what had been the topic of the first half hour of their drive: Jeff Hardy and how much of an asshole he'd turned out to be. "He needs to pay for that. And it totally serves him right that people saw him do it. I mean, I know you have to be upset about it and all, but at least now people know. They know he's a jerk."

"They know he lost his temper once and did something he shouldn't have. They don't know that he left he on the side of the road last month," Eve replied, shaking her head and closing her eyes wearily. "And even if I said something about it now, there's no way anyone would believe me. My feet are completely healed, and so is my leg and... My only real backup for what happened is CM Punk since he's the one that found me and, well... Do you really think people are going to believe any bad things he said about Jeff? Especially after he cashed in the money in the bank contract on him."

"Well it sucks that people won't believe the truth. That the only people that actually know the truth are me and you and Punk and Jeff and that Jeff somehow thinks that he's excused for his behavior because he thinks he's entitled or something. He's a two-time screw up is what he is. And a complete jerk." Kelly glared fiercely in front of her as she drove. "I hope Punk makes him hurt. Badly."

"Kelly-"

"Oh, don't say you don't feel the same way. Whatever Punk dishes out, Jeff deserves. You know it, I know it, and Punk knows it. As for the rest of the world? They're just blinded by Jeff's act. One of these days, they'll see through him-"

"But probably not any time soon," Eve broke in, looking over at the younger woman. For the most part, she appreciated Kelly's enthusiasm, but after awhile, all the vindictiveness got a hard to take. It kind of made her feel like a jerk because, well... She did feel that way. She did think Jeff deserved to be knocked around - hard - by CM Punk. But what kind of person did it make her if she was so damned bent on revenge... Especially if Jeff didn't know *why* Punk was going after him this way.

"Stop feeling guilty," Kelly instructed, and Eve blinked, then looked over at her.

"What?"

"I know you. You're feeling guilty because you keep imagining all the wonderful ways that CM Punk can make Jeff Hardy hurt... and you've also loved every damn minute of what Punk has done so far. Plus, you would like to do some damage yourself. You're not used to having such mean thoughts, so you feel guilty, even though he totally deserves what he gets. So, you know, get over the guilty and just enjoy the bad thoughts."

"You know, Kelly, sometimes... You are so very twisted," Eve told the younger woman, and the blonde shrugged her shoulders with a smile, nearly bouncing in her seat.

"I'll take that as a compliment," the young diva declared, then slanted a glance at Eve. "You know what would really throw Jeff for a loop and totally piss him off?"

"I'm sure you have several ideas," the brunette said with a sigh, and Kelly grinned again.

"Well, of course I do, 'cause I'm awesome that way, but really... This one's terrific," she said, then slanted another look toward Eve. "Aren't you going to ask me about it?"

"Nope."

Kelly rolled her eyes. "Well, I'm tell you anyway, because I know you want to hear it. You should kiss Punk."

"I did. Last night. He kissed me first, though," Eve told her, and the blonde laughed.

"I know, and that's great but... I'm talking about an awesome way to turn against Jeff. You helped Punk beat him and then, when the two of you are standing over his beaten body... You just totally start making out. Like, serious kissage-"

"Yeah. Not gonna happen," the brunette said, shaking her head at her friend's idea. "Definitely not going to happen."

"It would be great, though. A real shocker. For Jeff and the fans."

"I'm not going to... Anything that happens between me and Punk is just... Between us," Eve said, then looked over at Kelly. "Just, you know... Shut up and drive for awhile."

"I can talk and drive at the same time," Kelly declared, the diva narrowly missing another car as she spoke, and Eve closed her eyes, not really holding it against the other driver for the rude gesture he'd just made toward them.

"No, Kelly... You really can't."


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer, etc., in part 1. Thanks to everyone that has reviewed/favorited/followed this one.

* * *

Part Sixteen

She made her way down the hall of the arena, a frown on the dark-haired woman's face as she tried to think up ways to avoid going to the divas' locker room... Mainly because she knew Maria Kanellis would be there and Eve didn't want to put up with the brat. To think that, at one point, she'd actually thought that Maria was her friend, but now she knew better. Much better. Maria had only ever been nice to her because Eve had been Jeff's manager and Maria wanted nothing more than to sink her claws into the younger Hardy brother. Well, the scrawny little bitch could have him, for all she cared. And after Maria had attacked her from behind on Monday? Hell, Eve pretty much thought the two of them deserved each other.

Shaking her head, Eve rounded a corner, then had to bite back a scream when someone reached out and grabbed her hand, tugging her into the nearest room. The bit of a scream she hadn't managed to prevent from escaping was smothered by the hand on her mouth, a hand that dropped immediately once the person that had grabbed her had tugged her around so she could see his face.

CM Punk.

Without thinking, Eve reacted, reaching out to smack the man on the arm, and he flinched slightly as he pulled the door shut behind them.

"Sorry. You were in your own little world."

"So you grabbed me?" she managed, not sure if she should laugh at him or yell at him.

"Yeah. Seemed like a good idea at the time." He glanced around at the room they were in. It was a storage closet much like the one she'd yanked him into back on Monday when she'd been furious with him for getting her banned from ringside. "Fancy meeting you here."

"You pulled me in here. So it's really not so fancy," she said, and he laughed.

"I always wondered why people said that anyway. 'Fancy meeting you here'. Whatever," he said, shaking his head, his expression growing more serious as he reached out, let his hand skim over her shoulder. "How is it?" he wanted to know, and Eve knew he was asking about the bruise he'd seen on Monday night after RAW... When he'd come to her hotel room to check on her. When he'd kissed her. When she'd kissed him.

"It's okay. It's not really sore, but... It's starting to fade, which means it's really kind of ugly at the moment," she said. "Kelly knows about it. Jeff and Maria don't. I won't give them the satisfaction."

"I highly doubt that Maria left that bruise on you."

"Yeah, but she'd probably try to take credit for it," Eve said with a roll of her eyes. "And Jeff's had since Monday to try and find a way to make what happened in that hallway my fault. I'm sure he'd do the same with the bruise."

"Maybe so. But there's plenty of people in the back that wouldn't buy his excuse."

"He's Jeff Hardy. They want to give him the benefit of the doubt. I'm just a diva search winner. I'm an outsider. I'm not one of them," the diva reminded him, and Punk snorted.

"Well, I'm an outsider, too. I'm not one of them. Not really."

Eve gave him a look. "You're the world heavyweight champion," the woman said, and he shrugged his shoulders.

"Yeah, I am. It's not the first time, either. Doesn't change the fact that I'm an outsider. Doesn't change the fact that the vast majority of fans are mad because I used the money in the bank contract in exactly the way it was intended: to get myself the title. Doesn't change the fact that a lot of the people in the back want Jeff to get the title back. For some reason, despite all the screwing up he's done, a lot of people still think that Jeff Hardy craps rainbows and puppy dogs or some shit. And me? I'm just the guy that spent years in the indies and refuses to go and have a beer with the boys because it's against who I am."

"Some people respect you for being straight edge," Eve said quietly, and he left out a sigh, looked down.

"A lot of them don't. Last year, when I had the title for the first time, JBL came after me as much because he didn't like my whole straight edge lifestyle than for anything else. It wasn't just because of the title. That was a bonus for him. So, yeah... A lot of people don't respect the straight edge thing because they just think it's weird-"

"I respect you for it," the diva stated, her words soft, and it took Punk a moment to register them. When he did, he stopped speaking, lifting his gaze to look at her, finding the pretty brunette just standing there watching him. After a moment, he smiled.

"You know, usually I don't give too much of a shit what people think about me," he told her, and when Eve started to look away from him, he reached out, his fingers on her cheek as he brought her gaze back to his. "I said usually. For some reason, I do care what you think of me. Not sure how I feel about that. Kind of weird. Not a bad weird or anything, just... different. I mean... I don't give a shit what the fans think about me, or the people in the back, but... But then there's you. So... That's kind of where I'm at, right now. Feel free to be creeped out by it."

Eve laughed softly, reaching up and grabbing CM Punk's hand, which had still been touching her face. "I'm not creeped out at all. It's nice to... It makes me feel like I actually matter to someone, which is nice, because I sure as hell know I don't matter to Jeff. Or to a lot of people. And you matter to me, too, so-"

Her words were cut off then, Punk tugging lightly on her hand and surprising her into stepping forward at the pull, his free hand coming up to find her face as his head lowered, his mouth finding hers, the man cutting off her words with a kiss.

Eve couldn't exactly say she minded being interrupted. Not by him, and definitely not when he was interrupting her in this way. In fact, she was pretty sure she liked it.

Without giving herself a chance to think about where they were or why she shouldn't be doing this, Eve acted on instinct, moving closer to Punk, her arms coming up, hands resting on his shoulders for a moment before she pressed closer, her arms wrapping around his neck as his arms came around her waist, holding her against him, one hand splayed across the small of her back, the other fisted in the material of her shirt. He was probably going to leave a wrinkled spot where his hand was fisted in her shirt but, at the moment, she didn't really give a damn. All she really cared about was kissing CM Punk.

As he tilted his head slightly, changing the angle of the kiss, deepening it, his tongue brushing over her lips, he shifted their positions, her back hitting the wall, her shoulder knocking into the side of one of the shelves in the room and Eve couldn't help the hiss that slipped from her lips at the contact... Couldn't help the way she flinched slightly at the impact. For his part, Punk noticed it immediately and broke the kiss, still holding her close as he stepped backward, drawing her away from the shelf. His hand skimmed up her back to her shoulder, and he frowned as he looked down at her.

"You said your back was okay."

The diva frowned. "I thought it was. But then again, I haven't been knocking it against anything, so... I guess I shouldn't hit it against stuff," she said, the woman still standing in the circle of CM Punk's arms. He didn't seem inclined to release her and, well... She found that she didn't really want him to.

"Have you even looked at it since Monday?" he wanted to know, and Eve arched a brow at him.

"I told you that it's starting to fade. That means I've looked at it," she told him, and, when he didn't look convinced, she let out a sigh. "What?"

"Let me see it."

"What? You want me to take off my shirt and show you my bruise?" she asked, and he flinched at that, probably realizing that if he said yes to that, then she'd get really annoyed with him. And besides that, this wasn't about getting a free show. This was about making sure that the bruise didn't look worse than he remembered.

"No. I just... If you can move the shirt off your shoulder enough that I can see the bruise... Eve, I just want to know you're okay," he told her, his eyes on hers, and because she actually believed he was just concerned, the diva heaved out a sigh, turning her back to him before reaching up to unbutton the top few buttons of her shirt, loosening it just enough that she could push it back off her shoulder. She stood very still as he studied the bruises, not moving even when his fingers skimmed over the skin. "I guess I didn't see the full bruise on Monday."

She sighed. "I guess it hadn't fully shown itself when you came to my room and saw it," Eve said, shrugging her shirt back into place, quickly buttoning her shirt back up as she turned around to look at him. To his credit, he didn't even try to get a glimpse of anything as she worked on the buttons, the man's eyes instead on her face.

"Sorry I hurt you," he said, and Eve arched a brow at him.

"Yeah. Um... I'm pretty sure that I wasn't thinking about the bruise until my back hit the shelf. I'm fine. And you didn't hurt me. Jeff did. You've never hurt me, Punk," she told him, and he looked at her for a moment before leaning down, pressing a quick, fierce kiss to her lips before he pulled away and stepped back, putting some distance between them. When she frowned at that, he gave a self-deprecating laugh.

"The closer I am to you, the harder it is to keep my hands off of you, and really... That's not why I grabbed you. Not saying I'm not glad that all of this happened, because... Well, yeah, but... I didn't grab you just so I could attack you or whatever."

"Trust me, Punk, I don't feel like I've been attacked. But, uh, if you didn't pull me into this room to kiss me senseless - good job on that, by the way - why did you grab me?" she asked, watching the way his smile grew at her words, most specifically the part about kissing her senseless. And to be honest, she was kind of smiling about that as well.

"Two reasons, actually. First, I wanted to find out how your shoulder was, which, you know... I did. But I was also wondering if you had seen the match listing for tonight," he said, and Eve gave a slight nod of her head.

"I have. Jeff is facing Jericho. I also saw that you're wrestling Rey Mysterio," she said, and Punk nodded, heaving out a sigh.

"Yeah... Don't really have a problem with Rey, but... We've got a match, and Chris Jericho has already stopped by my locker room and informed me that he's going to be out there doing commentary during my match. He kind of hinted that he intends to make sure that I win." He paused, frowning, then shrugged. "I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. Jericho and Rey pretty much hate each other, so... There it is. I don't know if Jeff is going to insist on being out there for Rey-"

"I doubt it. Jeff doesn't much care about anyone but himself," Eve reminded him, then tilted her head to the side. "What about you? You going to insist on being out there in Jericho's corner when he faces Jeff?" she wanted to know, and Punk snorted.

"Wasn't planning on it. I'd kind of like to win my match against Rey if I can - otherwise he'll probably claim that he deserves a shot at the title, too - and Jeff and Jericho's match is scheduled to start the show, so... I'm not going to be out there to put myself at risk. I wouldn't put it past Jeff to attack me. Of course, if he does something stupid and attacks you, well... I guess I'll have to go out there and beat the ever-loving shit out of him, so-"

"He won't. And that's not because I think he's noble or anything. He knows people saw what happened on Monday. People in the back saw it, and maybe they're looking at him a little more closely than usual," Eve said, then shrugged. "Besides that, I'm guessing that Rey might have gotten wind of the fact that Jericho will be commentating for your match tonight. I'm not sure what he intends to do, but he made it pretty clear that he's going to be around, and I know that if he's out there, Rey won't let anything happen to me."

"Well, now I kind of feel bad about intending to beat the guy later."

"It's a match. You're supposed to want to win," she told him. "And I want you to win, so... Good luck tonight."

He gave her a look. "How about a kiss for luck?" he said, and she rolled her eyes, then shifted closer to him, pressing a light kiss on his lips before pulling back and giving him a wink.

"That will have to tide you over for now. I'll see you later."

"Count on it."


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer, etc., in part 1.

* * *

Part Seventeen

She had no idea what she was doing.

Eve lay there quietly on the bed of her hotel room, the diva staring up at the ceiling as she tried to figure out just what in the hell was going on. In the past month, she had gone from reasonably happy as Jeff Hardy's manager to... This. Now, she couldn't stand the man. She was sick of his crap, she'd had enough of being around a guy who was drunk or drugged out something like half the time. Even tonight, before his match, when he'd looked at her, his eyes had been dilated beyond what they should, a sign he was probably on something again, and the thing was, Eve wasn't an idiot. She knew what drugs did to a person; she understood that the body built up resistance to drugs and alcohol, meaning it took more and more to get drunk or high or whatever and Eve also knew that Jeff Hardy had been doing drugs for quite a long while now, and well... She couldn't help but wonder what it took now. What it took for him to get that high he craved. How much he was actually doing now. How much his body could take.

The diva swore at that, covering her face with her hands, not sure what she could do about it. Call the cops on him? Maybe. But what kind of a sentence would he get for a first offense? His biggest hope was to get forced into rehab but, once again, how likely was that if it was his first offense? And how likely was it if he was only caught with whatever he carried on him? She didn't know where he carried his drugs or where his stash was, though she supposed she could guess. He had to keep it close. He had to carry it with him... Or maybe he just knew where to get it when he went from city to city. The way they traveled, constantly from town to town, flying out to the first city and flying home from the last one... He had to be careful when he was flying; the way the agents searched people's luggage, it had to be a lot more difficult to sneak drugs on board than it used to be. Or at least she thought it had to be. She didn't exactly know the ropes when it came to things like that.

And why in the hell was she suddenly worried about trying to find a way to help him now, after everything she'd seen him do? After the way he'd just left her at the side of the road... after the way that he'd threatened her in the locker room the next day... after the way he'd thrown her into the wall back on Monday... Why did she care at all? Was she just an idiot for still caring somewhere deep down inside?

"God, I'm going crazy," Eve muttered, rubbing her hands over her face, telling herself once more the truth of the situation: if Jeff didn't want help, then he wasn't going to be helped. And that was the truth of it, wasn't it? No matter how badly she - or anyone else - wanted to help him, they wouldn't be able to help him unless he wanted the help. Unless he was willing to put some effort into it and actually try to quit going down the path that he was on. The problem was that Jeff didn't want help. The fact that, back in 2002, he'd actually quite the WWE instead of going to rehab - or so she'd heard; she'd never actually had the guts to ask him and didn't figure he'd be honest about it anyway - well... That just showed how much he didn't want to stop and how long his problems had been going on. And after he'd come back from his sixty day suspension a year ago, she'd actually believed him when he'd said that he wanted to clean up his act. That he *had* cleaned up his act. Maybe, at the time, he'd even believed it himself. But as time had gone on, well... It had become clear to her that he wasn't as clean as he claimed to be, and he'd brushed off any attempts she'd made to help and then... She'd just sort of let it slide. That was on her, really. When she realized he was using again, she should have just said screw this and left. Found someone else to manage or something. So yeah, the fact that she was still managing him was on her. But that didn't mean what he'd done to her in the past month was her fault or that it was okay. Because his actions weren't her fault, and what he'd done *wasn't* okay. She knew that, she understood that. And she knew that what she did now was up to her.

If only she could decide what that should be.

Yes, she should ditch Jeff. She knew that... But part of her was still reluctant to do so. Not because she had any delusions that she would somehow save him from himself or that he would change, but because she wanted to pick her spot. She wanted to hurt him, to cost him, just as Jeff had hurt her. And if that made her a vindictive bitch, then so be it. But picking the right spot to get back at Jeff wasn't the only reason Eve was still going back and forth about how long to stick by him. She wanted to find a way to help make sure that CM Punk stayed the champion. She wanted to help him now, too.

And Lord, but she didn't know what she was getting into with CM Punk. She didn't know how it had gotten to this point... From him just being the guy that had helped her to him being the guy that she'd ended up kissing in a damned storage closet earlier tonight. What worried her the most was that she wasn't sure what would have happened if her back hadn't hit that shelf and she hadn't winced because of the stupid bruise on her shoulder. She liked to think that she would have put a stop to things before much longer, but really... She didn't know. She had no idea how long they would have been in there kissing if it wasn't for her shoulder, and she had no idea if it would have just been kissing. She liked to think that she would have kept her head enough not to let it go too far - because it was a storage closet for goodness' sake - but there was just something about Punk that made it hard for her to think clearly sometimes.

And that was just crazy. Eve Torres was *not* the kind of girl to lose her head over some guy. She never had been. She was logical. She made plans and stuck to them and... Well, she certainly hadn't been sticking to them when it came to working with Jeff Hardy, had she? Because a long time ago, she'd told herself that she would never in a million years let a guy treat her the way Jeff had treated her. And while Jeff wasn't her boyfriend, never had been, that didn't change the fact that she had made excuses for his behavior and let him treat her like crap for awhile before everything had gone into motion to put her where she was now. Because while it had shocked her to have Jeff leave her on the side of the road, she couldn't say he'd been treating her all that well before that, either. He'd even gotten to the point where he just expected her to cover for him when he was high or drunk or whatever. She'd fielded phone calls from his father, telling the man Jeff was sleeping when he was really puking his guts out after a night of too much drinking. Or he had a stomach bug when he really had a hangover. She'd freaking enabled the guy when she should have been telling him to deal with it himself. So no, Eve wasn't exactly doing things the way she'd had planned... And really, in the grand scheme of it all, she figured that what was going on with CM Punk wasn't as worrisome as what was going on with Jeff Hardy.

Grumbling to herself, the diva shook her head, then jerked at the sound of the knock on the door... Frowning a bit as she rolled off the bed, landing on her feet and making her way across the room. Since there were only two people in the company that she really talked to outside of the shows these days, she had to figure that it was one of them knocking on the door... And she couldn't exactly say she was surprised when it was CM Punk standing there. After all, before she'd left him in that storage closet, hadn't she told the man that she'd see him later? And hadn't he told her to 'count on it'? She shouldn't be surprised that he was here. Though she was a bit surprised to see that he was carrying what appeared to be a pizza box.

Quickly, she opened the door, arching a brow as she looked at him. He glanced up and down the hall - which was thankfully empty of coworkers, then lifted the box of pizza and the plastic bag in his hand.

"I come bearing food. And Pepsi, actually. So if you'll let me inside..."

"What kind of pizza?" she wanted to know, and he smiled slightly.

"I wasn't sure what you would like, so half of it's just cheese, and the other half has mushrooms and peppers and all the good stuff on it. So... You gonna let me in? Or do I have to sit and eat pizza in the hallway?" he asked, and Eve rolled her eyes before stepping back and letting him enter the room.

"How, exactly, did you get my room number this time?" the diva couldn't help but ask, and he smiled at her.

"Kelly thinks I'm good for you," was his only reply as he made his way across the room and put the pizza box down on the small table in the room, the man arching a brow as he watched Eve close and lock the door, the diva seemingly a little hesitant. Or maybe just uncertain. "I'm not going to jump you, you know."

She cleared her throat. "I didn't say you were."

"Well, you kind of looked like you thought I might," he replied, and Eve heaved out a sigh.

"I have no idea what I'm doing here," she told him as she crossed the room to the little table, the diva blinking when he pulled out one of the chairs, clearly intending for her to sit down on it. When she did, he eased the chair a bit closer to the table, then went around to the other side and took the second seat for himself.

"I don't know about you, but I'm planning to have some pizza. That's what I'm doing here," he said as he opened the pizza box, then frowned slightly. "No plates. Or silverware, for that matter."

"Yeah, well, pizza can be eaten with your hands," Eve replied as she carefully pulled a slice of cheese pizza away from the rest of it, setting it lightly on the open top of the box, which was what was closest to her. She blinked as a can of Pepsi was suddenly held in front of her face. She reached up and took it, then popped the top. "Thanks."

"No problem. So... I'm guessing you're having second thoughts about what's happening between us," Punk said, and though he sounded casual, there was something in his dark eyes that let the diva know he was paying very careful attention to what she said.

"I... It's not like that. I don't regret kissing you. Tonight, or the other night. I just... I don't know what's happening. I like to be the girl with the plan, and lately, it seems like all of that has totally gone out the window. And it's not just with you. I mean... All my plans were out the window weeks ago, before Jeff even ditched me on the side of the road, and I didn't even realize it. I mean, I definitely never planned to end up becoming some sort of enabler for the guy I managed-"

"Do you buy drugs for him?" Punk asked, the man casually getting a piece of pizza for himself, and Eve sent him an incredulous look.

"What? No! Of course not. I wouldn't even know where to... And even if I did know, I would never... Geez-"

"Then it's not on you. It's his choices, not yours."

"I know that, I just... I made excuses for him. Sorry, he can't talk because he's not feeling well, when the truth was he had a hangover from the night before or... he was high and slurring his words and I knew better than to put him on the phone," Eve said, shaking her head. "That's enabling, too, you know. Making excuses. Making it easier for him to get away with the things he was doing. And that is on me."

"When's the last time you made an excuse like that for him?" Punk wanted to know, and Eve heaved out a sigh, taking a small bite of her slice of pizza, taking the time to chew and swallow before she spoke.

"Since before you picked me up on the side of the road. I avoid spending time with him as much as possible now. I walk out with him at the shows, and that's it."

"Which makes me think that, even if you did enable him before - and I'm not saying you did - you're not doing so any longer," CM Punk said reasonably enough his eyes on her as he lifted his own piece of pizza and took a much larger bite of it than she had of hers. He took a moment to chew and swallow, then grabbed his Pepsi and took a drink. Once he put that down, he spoke again. "The way I see it is this... He had problems long before you ever started managing him. Right?"

"From what I understand... Yes," Eve said, and he snorted.

"From what you understand... Please. He's been suspended twice. And we all know the rumors about why he left the WWE back in 2002. The company wanted rehab, and he said no. It wouldn't be the first time they got rid of someone for having issues. Granted, I figure the company mostly only gave a damn if it was causing problems at work, so... He was bad enough off that he was showing up high or late or not at all, and when he wouldn't get help, they got rid of him. Now he's back. With two strikes. He mostly shows up on time, and he knows he has the two strikes hovering over his head, so they leave him alone. That's not exactly helping the guy, either."

"He makes the company money. They don't care. And he's still mostly showing up on time because Maria makes sure he gets there on time now that I don't. I guess she's taken over on the making excuses for him thing. But she thinks the sun shines out of his ass or something, so..." Eve shrugged. "Then there's his brother. I mean, they haven't started talking again yet or anything that I know of, but the truth is, from what I saw when they weren't trying to beat each other up, Matt's as much of a jerk as Jeff. Maybe worse. And when they get together... It's weird, really. I've met their dad. He seems like a decent guy. I think he did the best he could with them, but... Well, he ended up with those two for sons." She made a face. "And I really don't want to talk about them anymore. Jeff... Matt... Maria. Any of them."

"Then we won't talk about them. We'll just eat our pizza... Then maybe figure out something else to do," he said, and Eve arched a brow at him as she reached for her Pepsi.

"And what, exactly, do you have in mind for the 'something else to do'?" she asked, and he smirked slightly, fully aware that they were both thinking about what had happened in the storage closet earlier at the arena... But he also knew she was a bit uncertain about things with him, which meant he wasn't going to push. So instead of saying anything about kissing - or more - he gestured with his pizza toward the small couch in the room.

"I was thinking that maybe we could curl up over there and find a movie to watch. Maybe something scary. You know, so you'll hide your eyes and bury your face in my shirt a lot," he told her, and though she rolled her eyes at his words, she still smiled at him.

"I think I'd like that."


End file.
